


A New Challenger

by stuffedcookie



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game), Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Action, F/F, Humor, Romance, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2019-10-25 11:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17724242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuffedcookie/pseuds/stuffedcookie
Summary: Every fighter is on their way to the Smash Brothers Tournament. Peach and Samus decide to walk there and catch up with each other on their lives. While on their way they stumble across a small creature with black soulless eyes. That creature also happens to be a new fighter.





	1. A Simple Walk

The Smash Bros tournament is one of the greatest events to any living creature alive. Different people from drastically different worlds coming together to fight for fun and entertainment. Your favorite people battling against other people you love never seemed to get old. The people that did the fighting also loved it just as much, if not more. Each loved it to a different degree and each was always pleased to meet old friends from different parts of the world. 

At the moment each fighter was on there way to the tournament, some chose to fly on Bowsers ship, some got a ride from Fox, and one in particular simply ran there. But two chose to have a walk there, sure it was a long walk, but one of them enjoyed the scenery of the forest as she was walked through. While the other wanted to catch up with her old friend. The two individuals were none other than Peach and Samus.

“I still don’t get why you don’t want to simply fly there. I have a ship you know.” Said Samus. 

“I know, but sometimes I like to enjoy nature once and while. Don’t you?” said Peach in a cheerful tone. 

“For me nature usually tries to kill me. Speaking of which aren’t you worried something might try to attack us?” 

“I'm perfectly able to handle myself and so are you. You have arm canon after all.” 

“And you have an ass that somehow does damage.” Peach couldn’t see, but Samus was smirking under her helmet. Peach let out a small chuckle before responding. 

“I also have a golf club, tennis racket, frying pan and turnips. The perfect arsenal.” She turned and gave Samus a big smile. Samus couldn’t help but chuckle at Peach’s response. 

“How are things with you anyway?” asked Samus. “I heard you got to use a gun while fighting with rabbits.” 

“Technically there ‘Rabbids’, and yes I got to use a gun.”

“How’d you like it?” once again Samus was smirking under her helmet.

“Honestly . . . I loved it. I’m starting to regret not bringing it.” 

“There’s always next time.” 

“What about you?” 

“Oh me? Well, not much. Aside from having to exterminate an entire planet of Metroid’s.”

“Hey, sorry to bring this up but,” Peach hesitated. She knew what she was about say was a sensitive subject. But she was curious. “Isn’t Ridley going to the tournament?” To Peach’s surprise, Samus responded without hesitation. 

“Yup. He seemed VERY pleased knowing he’ll get to beat me up in front of a live audience.” Samus seemed annoyed at the thought of Ridley showing off just to show he can beat her. Peach could tell, even with the helmet on. To which, Peach said the best words she could think of. 

“I think what you mean to say is that, you’ll be very pleased beating HIM up in front of a live audience.” Said Peach with the biggest smirk Samus ever say. 

“Thanks.” Samus couldn’t help but smile. Peach seemed to know what exactly to say no matter what. To this day though she could never understand why Peach liked her back. Samus would of thought Peach and Zelda would have gotten along better, which they do, in fact all three were good friends with each other. But for some reason Peach stayed with her the most. She could never figure out why. 

“Hey so, can I ask you something?” 

“What is it?” Peach said as she turned to look at Samus as they walked. 

“How come you hang around me the most? Why not Zelda?” 

“Oh well . . . your different.” 

“Different?”

“Yes. You’re not in a fancy dress like me or Zelda. You fight aliens as you daily job. Your arm canon is amazing. And well, you have an awesome personality. You don’t take anything from anyone and to me that’s great.” 

Samus had no words. She didn’t know Peach saw her like that and it felt . . . nice. She was always usually on her own and when Peach befriended her, she thought she did it out of pity. But as the years went on, it was clear that Peach truly saw her as a close friend. And what she just said was clear proof of that. 

She was also glad she was wearing a helmet because her face was red. 

“T-thanks Peach. I’m glad . . . uh- “ 

“Your welcome.” Said Peach in her usual cheery tone while smiling toward Samus. 

Before Samus could say anything else, both heard movement up ahead. It came from the bushes to the left of the path, Samus slightly raised her arm canon, while Peach simply stood unfazed. What came out of the bushes confused both of them. A small figure walked out. It had a shell-like head that had horns at the top. A pure black body with stubby arms and legs, and a grey cloak covering most of its body. The figure stopped in the middle of the path and pulled out a map, it looked at it for a few seconds before looking around the forest. It seemed lost and unsure of where it was. 

Samus wasn’t sure if it was friend or foe. She had found plenty of creatures before that looked cute but soon turned into monsters and felt this was no different. But before she could raise her weapon Peach began walking toward the small creature. 

“Hello there. Are you lost?” the creature was very short, so she had to look down to look at it. The creature looked up towards Peach and didn’t say anything. It’s black, empty, soulless eyes just stared at her. Peach felt a bit uncomfortable but remained calm. 

“OK, your clearly lost. Do you want to come with us to the tournament? We have friends that could help you.” When Peach said ‘tournament’ the little creature put away it’s map and pulled out an envelope, it had the Smash Bros stamp on it. The creature pointed at the symbol and than pointed towards itself. 

“Oh, I see! Hey Samus, this little guy is a new Smash Bros fighter!” 

“Wait really?” Samus walked over to Peach and the small creature. “Well welcome to the biggest fighting tournament ever known.” 

“This is great! Your going to meet so many great people. Trust me it’s amazing. What’s your name?” asked Peach. 

The small creature turned the envelope around and pointed to a word written on it. It read: To: KNIGHT. It than pointed to itself. 

“Your name is Knight? I like it. Nice to meet you, I’m Peach, and this is Samus.” Knight tucked the envelope back into he’s cloaks and gave them both a friendly wave. 

“I’m sure your glad you found us. You seemed so lost, but don’t worry we’ll get you there.” Peach began walking done the path once again with Samus by her side and their new companion. 

As they walked Knight didn’t say a single word. He was silent, and it seemed it was only focusing on getting to the tournament. Samus felt a bit awkward, every creature or person she came across made some sort of noise, but this little . . . thing, didn’t make any at all. No breathing, no words, only the sound of his footsteps. 

But she was curious as to how he fought in battle. 

“So little guy, how do you fight?” 

Knight stopped and looked at Samus. Peach turned around to see what was happening. “Hey,” she said. “shouldn’t we keep walking?”

“In a minute. I’m just curious, how does he fight?” 

“We’ll probably see at the tournament. Come on lets- “ 

Before she could finish, Knight pulled out his weapon, a Nail. He dashed toward a near by tree and slashed at it, splitting it in half down the middle. He than looked toward a small bush and shot a Shade Soul, burring the bush to nothing. And the final move he showed was the Abyss Shriek. He went under a tree and howled a loud, echoing shriek that tore away the branch’s and leaves completely. After he finished, he sheathed his nail and walked back where Samus and Peach were, standing in awe. 

“Well . . . you’ll fit in perfectly with everyone!” said Peach excitedly. 

“That was pretty good. I wonder what your Final Smash is.” 

Knight simply stared at Samus and Peach, and soon they continued there walk to the tournament. The sun continued to go down and soon they would have to rest for night. Samus was a bit annoyed that they had to wait till tomorrow to get there. She wanted the chance to get settled in and meet up with other friends but instead she was sitting in front of a camp fire. She didn’t mind having a nice camp fire but still, she missed her other friends . . . she also missed fighting them. 

As the night went on Samus removed her armor and sat near the fire she built, she noticed Knight was just staring at the fire. No movement what so ever. She still felt a little uneasy around him, he seemed friendly but there something odd about him. She couldn’t quite place it, but it seemed that he lacked emotions. Or maybe he had emotions but didn’t show them? She wasn’t sure which was which. 

“You ok?” asked Peach. 

“Me? Um, yeah just a little tired. I still think we should’ve flown there.” 

“True. But than we wouldn’t have met Knight.” Even though they were probably going to be the last ones arriving, even though they could be attacked at any moment in the forest, Peach was still positive. That’s what Samus liked about her, she liked how she brought a smile to her face. She was even starting to like that they were taking longer to get to the tournament because she got to talk with Peach more.

“So, anything else you been up too?” asked Samus.

“Well, aside from kart racing being more chaotic, not much else.”

“How chaotic?” 

“Well we have way more items, the Koopaling’s have their own karts, even the inklings are there now.” Peach let out a sigh. She loved racing, but it was exhausting for her sometimes. The Smash Bros tournament was just as chaotic, if not more chaotic. But Peach felt it was fairer, unlike the kart racing where a blue shell might appear.

“You want chaotic, go fight a spider that grabs you and throughs you around, so you can’t shoot at it.” Samus smirked Peach and Peach chuckled in response. 

The rest of the night was quiet as the fire continued to burn. Knight remained staring at it while Peach and Samus laid down on the ground started to fall asleep. Samus however couldn’t sleep. The things Peach said early were still fresh in her mind, Peach was never that nice before and Samus wondered what Peach was thinking. Why was she sounding more caring and loving? She thought. She also thought about how she could out smart space pirates and X-parasites but couldn’t wrap her head around this. She rolled over looking at Peach from across the fire and found herself starring at her, seeing her smile peacefully in her sleep. Then her face went red again, and she finally figured it out. 

“Oh no.” she said softly to herself. As she spoke Knight looked in her direction and she looked back him. 

“Not a word. Got it?”

He looked back at her and didn’t say anything and looked back at the fire that still burned. Samus assumed he got the message rolled back over facing away from Peach. She closed her eyes and did her best to fall asleep, but all she thought of was Peach wearing her biker outfit. 

“Crap”


	2. Settle In

After Samus and Peach woke up they set out for the tournament. When they woke up Knight was still awake staring at the now dead fire. Both Samus and Peach wondered if he even needs sleep. They walked for a few more hours and soon walked out of the forest into a vast field, and in the middle of that field was the stadium for the Super Smash Brothers Tournament. The stadium at a distance was amazing. The sheer size of it made it impossible not to see it at any distance. Thousands of people could get seats and watch the amazing fights that took place.

“Took a while, but worth it I guess.” Said Samus.

“How could it not!” said Peach in an excited tone. “Would do you think of it Knight?”

Knight looked at Peach, then at the stadium and said nothing.

“Speechless I guess.” Said Samus in a sarcastic tone.

“Probably.” Replied Peach. They began walking down the path to the entrance of the stadium, as they walked Samus noticed a few ships parked next to the stadium. Fox’s ship, Captain Falcon’s vehicle, Bowser’s ship and . . . Ridley’s ship. Samus groaned, she liked how Peach said she’ll get to beat Ridley up in front of a live audience. But she hated the fact that he was here at all. She even preferred dealing with Dark Samus over him, at least Dark Samus didn’t talk. Peach soon took notice.

“Don’t worry Samus. You’ve beat him before, you’ll do it again.” Said Peach, again in her cheerful tone. Samus was carrying her helmet so Peach got to see her smile back.

“You always know what to say you know that?”

“I’ve got my ways with helping you out.” She said with another one of her huge smirks. Samus simply smiled. Knight said nothing.

When they got to the stadium, they went to the doors that were near the parked ships, this way none of them would be harassed by fans. When they got to the door two koopa troopa’s were guarding the door. They had black shells, wore red ties, black shoes and had black sunglasses. “Welcome Samus and Peach.” Said one of them. The other koopa took notice of Knight “Who’s this?” he said as he took out a clip board with a check list of all the fighters.

“Ah! Your Knight. Pleased to welcome you.” Him and the other koopa open the door for them. Peach thanked them, and they walked in. The room they entered in was the lounging room, where all the fighters got to relax and enjoy their free time. The room itself was huge, there was a fire place with a few couches near it, a small bar off to the left side of the room, and a TV off to the right side. On the left was also a door that led to the girl’s rooms, and on the right was a door to the boys’ rooms.

“Hey! Samus, Peach!” the voice came from across the room as a girl in a purple dress ran up to them.

“Hey Zelda.” Said Samus and Peach in unison. Zelda gave both of them a hug and than noticed Knight.

“Hey who’s this little guy?”

“His name is Knight.” Said Peach. “He doesn’t talk.”

“Well it’s pleasure to meet you Knight. I’m Zelda. I hope you really enjoy it here.” Knight said nothing and simply stared at Zelda.

“Hey, do you know where Daisy is?” said Peach as she looked around the room for her.

“She’s at the bar with Ike and Bayonetta.”

“Thanks. See you in a bit Samus.”

“See ya.” Zelda and Peach walked over to the bar and it was now only Samus and Knight. Samus looked down at Knight and he looked at her. “I ain’t introducing you to everyone, you’re on your own.” With that, Samus went to go find her room. Knight looked around the room, he saw multiple different people in the room that he could talk to. He didn’t really know where to start and to top it off he didn’t speak, so he had no way of introducing himself. He simply sat on one of the couches next to the fire place. As he was relaxing, he took note of the people around him. One was a girl in a blue a dress with a star with eyes floating around her. A small monkey sleeping on the couch across from him. He noticed a short blonde boy talking with a blue robot in the corner of the room. But soon he found himself looking at a pink ball that was staring at him right in front of him. The pink ball looked at him in confusion at first, but then smiled and put out his stubby hand for a hand shake.

“Kirby.” He said cheerfully. Knight shook his hand and Kirby walked to where the TV was, he motioned his hand for Knight to follow him. Knight went to where the TV was. Kirby turned it on and pulled out two control’s and gave one to Knight. The controller was odd looking, it had three handles, arrow keys on the left, and the control stick was in the middle. Kirby showed Knight how to hold the controller and soon they were playing a game where you had to drive a car with weapons to destroy your opponent. Kirby cheered in excitement as he blew up enemies, Knight stayed silent as he played. But he was enjoying himself and liked that Kirby was nice enough to invite him to play video games.

Now if only he was good at the game.

\----- 

Samus found her room and it was nice as it was last year. It had a single bed with fluffy blankets, a hand carved dresser and a closet made to hold the fighter’s weapons and different outfits. Before Samus started her walk with Peach she had her and Peach’s belongings delivered to the stadium, so they wouldn’t have to drag their luggage with them. Samus opened her closet and saw all her different sets of armor and zero suit cloths and she then opened her suitcase and started unpacking. After she finished, she took off her armor and zero suit outfit and put on a simple pair of jeans and green long-sleeved shirt. The actual tournament itself wouldn’t start till tomorrow, so until tomorrow she just wanted to wear cloths she could relax in. After she finished putting on her cloths, she pulled a small gaming device that flipped open, it had one screen at the bottom and one at the top. Samus could’ve walked around the rooms saying hello to old friends. But right now she just wanted to be alone with herself enjoying her game.

As she played her game though, Peach kept popping up in her head. Samus kept trying to shake the thought away but images of Peach were slowly creeping their way into her head. She soon paused her game and starred up at the ceiling. Why now? She thought. She couldn’t let a crush distract her from the tournament, Ridley was here, and she wanted to make sure he got beaten to a bloody pulp. But ignoring her crush was difficult considering her crush was always around her, they are best friends after all. But Samus knew she had to try, and once the tournament was over, maybe she would confess then.

Once again, Samus was annoyed at how having a crush on someone was the most difficult thing for her.

\----- 

Kirby and Knight soon got bored of playing their game and were soon playing a card game called COUP. But Kirby wanted more than just himself and Knight, he wanted others to play. And within a few minutes Knight, Kirby, Olimar and Mr. Game and watch, were sitting in a circle on the ground playing a card game that involved stealing and lying. Peach, who was sitting at the bar, looked over and saw the little game take place. She smiled to herself, she was glad Knight was getting along with some of the fighters. It seemed like Knight was having fun, but Peach couldn’t tell. His face didn’t show much. Peach turned around facing the bar in her seat next to Daisy, her and Bayonetta seemed to be having a conversation about their fighting styles while Ike was busy watching the small TV above the bar.

“Another drink ma’am?” said the bartender who was a racoon in a tuxedo.

“Yes please.” The bartender gave Peach another drink and Peach took a small sip. After that she didn’t take another, instead she simple sat in her seat quietly. To anyone else who looked, Peach seemed to be deep in thought. Her eyes weren’t blinking, and her breathing was slow. And the one person who noticed was Zelda.

“You alright?” asked Zelda.

“Hmm? Oh, uh . . . yeah I was just thinking . . .”

“About what?” Zelda seemed interested in what Peach was thinking.

“Let’s just say, I’m doing a mission that requires subtly. And I’m just hoping I’ve done that correctly so far.” When Peach finished Zelda slightly smirked.

“What are you hiding?” Peach’s cheeks went slightly red but luckily Zelda didn’t notice.

“Nothing super important.”

“We’ve been friends since the second Smash Bros tournament, I can tell when your hiding something important.” Zelda kept her smirk as she spoke. Peach chuckled. 

“I’ll tell you when I’m ready.” Peach than took a long sip of her drink.


	3. How Things Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for this chapter being much shorter then the last two. A lot is happening in chapter four so I made this as a tease before the big fight.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy.

It was the first day of the tournament and the actual fighting would soon begin. Before it could start all the fighters had to meet up in a large room, there they would be given the rules of how the tournament and how things would work. Samus, Peach and Knight soon entered the room. Most of the fighters were there, only a few weren’t present. They sat down at one of the many tables set up and simply waited for the meeting to start, as they waited Samus looked around the room to see who was here. And that’s when she saw him, Ridley. When she caught sight of him, he just smiled at her, and that was it. He didn’t make a scene, he didn’t walk up to her and insult her, he just smiled. And then he looked away and went back to talking with Bowser and Ganondorf. Samus started feeling angry, she didn’t know why but seeing Ridley just smile made her want to kill him. Peach saw the little exchange and then put her arm on Samus’s shoulder.

“Hey.” She said. Peach’s touch made Samus go a little red but not enough to be noticeable. She quickly looked at Peach. “No matter what happens, you’ll still be one of the best fighters ever known.” Peach’s caring voice seemed to help melt away Samus’s anger.

“Thanks, plus we’ve got someone new who could help me kick his ass.” Samus looked at Knight who had been staring at Samus’s exchange with Ridley, and Peach calming her down. He said nothing.

Soon everyone had arrived in the room and the meeting began. Soon a man entered the room, he was very weird looking. He wore a sweater, white gloves, and sneakers. He also had a clipboard with him and was wearing a headset with a mic attached. However, he had no limbs whatsoever, no arms, legs, not even a neck.

“Hello everyone. My name is Rayman, I’ll be telling you how things are going to work here.” Once he had everyone’s attention, he began. “This is how it will work, before we decide who fights who, we are going to have a Free for All Battle. Which basically means your all in one big circler arena fighting each other. In other words, who ever is left standing, gets to continue.” Rayman had a huge smile on his face, he was clearly loving his job. Everyone else seemed to love what was about to happen, lots of the fighters were smiling and were excited to see if they could make to the next round. A few were nervous, particularly Luigi and Isabella, Isabella was nervous simply because she was new, and Luigi was scared because he was always scared.

“After that,” Rayman continued. “will go into the semi-finals, and after that, the finals. As usual items will be available, except in the semi and final rounds.” A few fighters were a bit annoyed that there wouldn’t be any items to use in the semi or final rounds. But most seemed fine with it.

“Well it’s good to know it’ll be even in the later fights.” Said Peach.

“Alright, the door to the arena is right behind you all. Good luck.” With that, Rayman left the room smiling.

Quickly everyone made there way to the arena. The hallway they were walking down seemed almost intimidating, the only source of light was the light at the end of the hallway, and the sounds of audience members cheering echoed down the hall. Knight couldn’t say it, but he was feeling nervous. Peach looked down at Knight, she couldn’t tell how he was feeling but she wanted to reassure him he would be fine.

“Don’t worry Knight, I know it seems scary. But it’s a lot of fun and I’ve seen some of your moves, you’ll do great out there.” Knight looked up at Peach. Somehow Peach sounded both cheerful and caring. And it made Knight feel a bit better. He simply nodded toward her. “Good to hear.” Replied Peach with a smirk.

Soon they were outside, and the arena could finally be seen. All around there were thousands of people, cheering and screaming in excitement. As everyone made it out of the dark hallway, a metal bridge was contacted from the large balcony they were all on to the arena. The arena was just one big circle made purely out of stone. Below the arena was nothing but water, and a few medical stations to the side for when fighters needed healing after their lose. Once everyone made there way across the metal bridge it retracted back to the balcony, leaving every fighter on the stone, circle arena. Very quickly all the fighters started backing away from each. They all know what chaos awaited them and they were all prepared. Samus, Peach and Knight grouped up together, as did other fighters, all of them were now waiting for a voice that said fight.

“Hello everyone,” said an enthusiastic voice from the speaker. “My name is Howard ‘Buckshot’ Holmes, some of you may know me the violent fighting game show known as Deathwatch!”

“You only mean the adults, right? Cause these kids won’t know crap about us!” said another more gruff voice.

“And with me is my old pal and former Deathwatch companion Kreese Kreeley! How are you Kreese?”

“Aside from seeing you again, great!”

“Good to hear!” he said with a heavy chuckle. “Now folks what’s happening here is that it’s a Free for All Battle! All the fighters have three minutes to beat the crap out of each other, and whoever is left standing, continues to the next round!” The audience roared in excitement.

“Minus the blood and death, which sucks!”

“Alright, when me and Kreese say fight, they fight. Ready?” there were a few seconds of silence, each fighter was tense and ready to burst into action. Samus had her canon charging and had it aimed at the Ice Climbers. Peach held her frying pan firmly and was setting her sights on Wolf. Knight had his nail drawn and was staring at Ryu. Ryu felt a bit uncomfortable as he starred back. All were waiting for one single word.

“FIGHT!” said Howard and Kreese in unison.


	4. Chaos

It was absolute chaos.

Lasers were firing, missiles went flying, no one showed any mercy. Luigi and Isabella were running from King K Rool as he charged towards them with a terrifying grin. The Inklings were in a gun fight against Fox and Bayonetta. Kirby and Pikachu were wrestling each other. Without any platforms or cover every fighter was exposed, there wasn’t a single safe spot to rest, it was fight or die.

“Well I think it’s safe to say that a lot these fighters are going to be hospitalized!” said Howard with a heavy laugh.

“I’m putting my money on Ganon! Guy reminds me of Jack! He doesn’t hold back!” said Kreese in an excited tone.

He was right, Ganondorf was fighting Mario. Mario attempted to punch Ganondorf in the face with a red flaming fist but Ganon was quick to dodge. He took the opening and punched Mario in his gut, taking Mario’s breath away. When Mario fell to his knees Ganon stomped his right foot on Mario’s back causing Mario to knock his head on the ground knocking him unconscious.

As chaotic as it was, Peach, Samus and Knight were able to keep focus on who they were engaging. Wolf attempted to shoot Peach with his gun but wasn’t quick enough before Peach rammed her ass right in his face sending him a few feet backwards. Before Wolf could even get up Peach was wailing on his head with her frying pan. Wolf made one last effort to grab Peach’s arm, but Peach’s continuous hits were too much, and he was quickly knocked out.

As Peach finished Wolf, Samus released her charged shot and fired it at the Ice Climbers. Before either of them could react, the blast hit them sending them high in the air and out of the arena and into the water below. Samus looked around the arena for a new target. It was hard to pick considering all the chaos around her. She considered taking on Shulk after he finished off Bowser. Jr, then she saw Duck Hunt take down Mewtwo with his jaw and thought he might be worth taking him down. But soon she saw Ridley, and she suddenly had an idea. What if I take him down now? She figured if she could take care of him now, she wouldn’t have to deal with him later. Plus, she had the bonus of feeling no pressure in the semi- final or final rounds. She saw him slamming Incineroar into the ground until only his head and shoulders were popping out of the ground. Samus saw her opportunity to catch him off guard, and she began charging towards him, while also charging her arm cannon. Her heart beat was quickening as she came closer, soon it would be over in an instant, and than she could relax and focus on the rest of the tournament. And Peach as well-

Wait, Peach! Samus stopped in her tracks, turned and looked to see where Peach was. She saw her whacking Charizard in the head and then she took out Wolf’s gun she stole and started shooting at Robin with a huge smile on her face. Samus didn’t know why, but she felt a sudden worry for Peach. But why? She knew Peach was more than capable of fighting on her own, why was she worrying so much out of nowhere?

Samus was so wrapped up in her own head she failed to notice the energy blast that was heading straight toward her. The blast hit Samus knocking her down. She quickly got herself up to see who shot the blast. It was Dark Samus, who was now charging her way towards her.

Samus had to think quickly, other why’s she’d be done for. She quickly went into her ball and rolled towards Dark Samus. She jumped into the air at an amazing speed and landed on Dark Samu’s face, before Dark Samus could respond Samus bounced off her head and rolled away. Dark Samus looked over towards Samus who had come out of ball form. Dark Samus was confused, the attack itself didn’t do much, but then she felt something on top of her head, and then she heard a beeping noise.

Suddenly, an explosion came from her head, leaving her dazed and she was no longer floating. She waddled around trying to find her balance, but she had no luck and came crashing down on the ground.

“Karma’s a bitch.” Samus said to herself triumphantly.

Ryu couldn’t seem to hit Knight and wondered why this small creature hadn’t attacked yet. Knight was constantly dashing around Ryu to avoid any potently attack and was waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Ryu than used his hadouken attack, Knight saw his opportunity. Knight used his Sharp Shadow charm to pass straight through the attack and landed on Ryu’s arms still in the hadouken attack form. Before he could react, Knight fired a shade soul at Ryu. Since he was so close from the blast, the soul sent Ryu flying back, leaving him lying on the ground unconscious.

Knight looked around the battlefield, observing all the chaos around him. It brought back flashbacks of the Colosseum of Fools. Before he could consider an opponent, Kirby bumped into him. Kirby waved a greeting with a smile before turning his attention back to the fight. He was being attacked by two fighters, Falco and Richter. Knight stood beside Kirby with his nail at the ready. Knight felt he owed Kirby the help since Kirby was nice enough to play with him before the fighting started. 

“Alright new guy, let's see what you're made of.” Said Falco.

Richter lashed his whip across Knight’s face he went rushing forward to pin Knight. Kirby inhaled Richter and spit him out, sending him flying towards Falco. Falco dodged the attack and Richter was left lying on the ground. Falco brought out his gun and fired a few blasts at Kirby. Knight brought out his Dream Shield and jumped in front of Kirby, blocking the attacks. Falco then used his Falco Phantasm, striking both Knight and Kirby. Richter started to get back up, Then Kirby had an idea. Richter lashed his whip again, except this time Kirby grabbed it, he then started swinging Richter around in the air and soon Falco was hit causing him to swing in the air as well. Kirby swung them high into the air and was about to do an upper strike once they came back down. But before he could attack, Knight jumped up and launched his Abyss Shriek, the impact was so effective that it sent both Falco and Richter out of the arena and were no longer visible.

“Damn! That little devil sure sent that bird flying!” said Howard excitingly.

“That joke was pathetic.” said Kreese in a soar tone.

Kirby smiled at Knight and raised his arm for a high five. Knight didn’t know what a high five was, so he simply looked at Kirby in confusion. Kirby than took Knight’s arm and raised it up and did the high five anyway. Knight looked at his hand, then at Kirby, and then put his arm back down and said nothing.

“Alright fighters!” shouted Howard. “One-minute left!”

Samus was trying to find Ridley. She had less than a minute to find him and beat him, which now was easier said than done. It was as if he disappeared, and the chaos around her wasn’t helping. Suddenly out of nowhere, Zelda bumped into her from behind.

“Oh hey! How are you doing?” Shouted Zelda as she shot a fire ball at Marth.

“I’m alright. Do you see Ridley anywhere?” as she asked her question, Samus fired a missile at Jigglypuff which not only sent her backwards, but also set Jigglypuff on fire.

“Umm . . . No. Why?”

“Was hoping to- “Before she could finish a massive explosion erupted from the left side of the arena. Knight and Kirby landed right next to Samus. Both got up brushing some of the ashes off. Knight looked up at Samus.

“Good to see your still standing.” Said Samus.

“That explosion knocked out most of the fighters! Damnit! I had fifty bucks on Megaman!” Shouted Kreese.

“Perfect timing because,” Howard took in a deep breath. “GAME!” he shouted.

With that one single word, ever fighter stopped instantly. The dust seemed to be settling but most of the smoke still lingered, and the fighters that lost were the ones lying down unconscious. The bridge from the balcony came forward and many Deku Scrubs wearing medical caps came running out to care for the fallen fighters.

“Hey where’s Peach?” said Samus as she quickly looked around to see if she could find her. 

“Right here!” Samus turned around to see Peach walking out from where the explosion happened. Her pink dress was completely ruined, multiple rips all around, dozens of holes and a ton of ash covering both the dress and Peach.

“Well,” said Peach in a casual tone. “this dress is ruined.”

“At least you’re still standing.” Said Zelda.

“Now here’s how it works everybody!” said Howard in an excited tone. “there can only be eight fighters in the semi-finals! So, later today were going to pick which fighters will enter the semi-finals! So even though there’s 19 of you left, were only picking eight! The results will be posted later today!”

The remaining fighters were Samus, Peach, Knight, Zelda, Kirby, Pac-Man, Bowser, Fox, Ganondorf, Isabelle, Ike, King. K Rool, Olimar, R.O.B., Ness, Toon Link, Donkey Kong, Meta Knight and Ridley. All of them were the only fighters left standing and only eight were going to the semi-finals. Most of the fighters were heading across the bridge back to the lounge. Samus stopped for a moment. Where is he? She couldn’t seem to find Ridley, a lot of the smoke from the explosion was still lingering and her vision couldn’t seem to find him. Soon her angry started to build up again. She wanted to get rid of him as fast as possible but failed, and now she must deal with him . . . in front of a live audience. 

“Wasn’t that fun?” said a voice from the right of Samus. Samus turned and was now facing Ridley.

“Yeah . . . fun.” She said dryly.

“Oh, come on! You gotta admit, it was pretty cool!” he said with a chuckle.

“Sure. Listen, just so you know, I’m showing no mercy when I beat your ass.”

“OK, first off, I was expecting that. And second, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Ridley had a huge devilish grin on his face as he spoke. He was loving Samus’s angry towards him.

“See you in the semi-finals.” Samus began walking away. She didn’t even know why she wanted to say that to him, she just felt like it. Her angry continued to grow but she started take deep breaths and soon she was calm. As she walked away, Ridley’s grin stayed. He than saw Dark Samus being carried away by two Deku Scrubs, he looked closer to see if she was awake. She was, she then looked at Ridley who gave her a thumbs up, she returned it with one as well.

Ridley started to walk back to the lounge, but soon saw Knight looking back at him across the bridge. He was just staring. Knight turned to look at Dark Samus, then he looked back to Ridley. Ridley suddenly realized that he just saw his exchange with Dark Samus, he than pointed towards Knight and then made the hand motion of sealing his lips. Knight continued to stare, but soon turned around and ran towards the rest of the group.

Little bastard better keep his mouth shut.

Samus and Peach entered back into the lounge, they were going into the girl’s room area when Peach looked herself over before entering her room.

“What dress should I wear? The red one, or the black?” she asked. Samus looked her over before coming to decision.

“I’d go with the black dress. I don’t see you in it enough.” She said with a smirk.

“Plus, I look sick in it.” Peach said with a grin. “See you in the lounge later.”

“See ya in a bit.” Soon Samus changed into her more casual clothes and went to the lounge.

A few hours had past since the chaotic fight. Every fighter was relaxing and enjoying their free time. Even though most of the fighters weren’t in the semi-finals, they were fine with that. In-between the fights the tournament will have four random fighters fight each other just for fun, to keep the audience entertained. So even if a fighter wasn’t in the semi-finals, they still had something to do. Samus, Peach and Zelda were sitting near the fireplace having idol conversations while Knight and Kirby were playing a game where you shoot Nazi zombies.

“I hear my three favorite ladies might be in the semi-finals.” Said a woman in a blue dress.

“Hey Rosalina.” All three girls said in unison. Rosalina sat down next to Zelda.

“Sorry you didn’t make in Ros.” Said Samus.

“That’s alright, I made it last year so I’m good.” Rosalina looked over her shoulder and looked at Knight and Kirby playing their game. “Seems those two are getting along.” She said with a smile.

“I know right?” said Peach. “I’m really glad we took that trip through the woods otherwise I think he would’ve been lost.”

“I saw what he did to Ryu,” said Zelda. “He’s pretty good.”

“Attention fighters!” said voice from the speaker. “The eight semi-final fighters have been chosen!” Everyone in the lounge was suddenly more awake, Kirby and Knight shut off their game to hear who made it.

“The fighters are, Bowser! Knight! Samus! Kirby! Peach! Pac-man! Zelda! And Ridley! Good luck in the semi-finals!”

Applause and cheering roared in the lounge, many of the fighters congratulated the people who got in. Kirby gave Knight a huge, Knight didn’t how to respond and instead just stood stiff. Meta Knight then walked up to Kirby and Knight, he looked at them both before putting out his hand for a handshake. Kirby shook it.

“Nice job.” He said calmly. He then looked at Knight. “I saw you fight, not bad.” Knight simply stared, he didn’t speak so he couldn’t say ‘Thank you’. So, he instead nodded his thanks to Meta Knight, Meta Knight nodded back and walked away.

“Sweet! We made it in Samus!” cheered Peach.

“I know, it’s great.” Samus was excited, but she still felt annoyed at the fact that she didn’t take care of Ridley. She still smiled though, she didn’t want to ruin Peach’s mood.

“Awesome job Zelda.” Rosalina said to Zelda.

“Thanks Ros. Now the real fighting starts.”

“Hey Peach.” Peach turned in her seat to see Mario walking over to her. “Congrats out there.”

“Aww, thanks Mario.” Peach got up to speak with him. “You OK? I heard what Ganon did to you.”

“I’ll be fine, I’m just glad you’re in and Ganon isn’t.” Mario made a big smirk as he mentioned Ganondorf.

“Uh, Mario . . .” Peach pointed behind Mario, Mario turned around and was staring up at Ganondorf who was standing stiffly with his hands behind his back.

“Oh.” Before Mario could say anything else, Ganondorf put up his hand to silence him. He than put his hand back behind his back.

“You fought well,” he said politely. “Perhaps when we fight later you might best me.”

“Uh . . . Thank you.” It was all Mario could say. Ganondorf then walked over to the bar and sat down asking for whisky.

“Alright,” Mario turned back to face Peach. “I’m going to bed early. Good night.”

“Good night Mario” Peach said kindly. Peach then walked back over to sit on the couch next to Samus.

A few more hours passed and most of the fighters were asleep. Peach, Zelda and Kirby were sound asleep. The only ones awake were Samus, Knight and the racoon bartender. Knight sat on the ground staring into the fireplace. Samus was drinking a cocktail while watching a show about these aliens called “Crystal Gems”, she was half asleep though, so she couldn’t really keep up with it. She pinched the bridge of her nose, so many things were flying around in her head. She couldn’t beat Ridley, she let Dark Samus get the drop on her, she liked Peach, which was now messing with her in the tournament. Nothing seemed to be working out.

“Are you doing alright?” asked the bartender. Samus snapped back into reality and looked at the bartender.

“Yeah I’m fine. I’m probably going to bed soon. Just a lot on my mind right now.”

“Like what?” the bartender seemed to have a sly look on his face.

“Look, no offence, but I barely know you.”

“True, but if that’s a problem maybe you should talk to someone you know. Maybe that person could help.” Samus had to admit, the racoon was making a good point. Or maybe the alcohol was setting in.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Sly.”

“Okay Sly, I don’t really think I can talk to anyone about these things, there very. . . personal.”

“Can’t hurt to try.” He said as his smile grew. “Anyway,” he then turned off the TV. “I’m done for tonight. You done your drink?”

“Yeah, thanks for the tip.” Samus got up. She felt a bit dizzy but stayed standing. She then looked over to Knight, and that’s when an idea popped into her head. If I can’t tell Zelda or Ros, why not him? He doesn’t talk.

“Good night, err. . . Knight.” Knight looked over and waved, he then continued staring into the fire. Samus went to her room, she was too tipsy to talk to Knight. She would do it tomorrow when her mind was clearer. She got in her pajamas and crawled into bed and let her mind wonder. Which was a mistake because this time she thought of Peach in her swimsuit.

“God dammit.”


	5. Rest

No one was awake, only a few were stirring in the morning.

After the intense fight, no one was ready for an early morning. The fighters who had been defeated were still regaining their strength and healing from their wounds. Which is why there wouldn’t be any fighting today. Thankfully there were hotels bedside the stadium for the mass audience that had come. The hotels, however, were nowhere near the size of the stadium.

Today was a day for rest, even the fighters who won were still sore from the chaotic fight. Samus however, was not going to let her headache and sore muscles stop her. She had to talk to Knight, she had to get these feelings she had out and was too embarrassed to tell Zelda or Rosalina. Knight already knew that Samus liked Peach, so telling him how she felt about it might help. She walked into the lounge and looked around for Knight. Unsurprisingly enough, Knight was in the lounge still staring at the fire in the fireplace. No one else was present.

“Morning Knight. Did you even sleep?” asked Samus.

Knight looked up at her and said nothing. He simply stared at Samus with his empty eyes.

“Ok, look.” She sat down beside him. “You already know that I . . . have a thing for Peach.”

Knight stared.

“And I’ve got some things that I need to talk to someone about. So, are you alright with being my listener?” Samus knew she was being blunt but figured that’s what Knight understood the best. _Does he even know what liking someone means?_   She thought. Knight looked down for a moment, he figured he could at least help her. Her and Peach helped him find the tournament so he figured this would be a good way to pay her back.

He looked back at Samus and nodded.

“Thanks.” Samus smiled. She was very happy to finally have someone to talk to. “Where to start? So-” Samus’s conversation with Knight seemed to last forever. She talked about how right before she met Knight, Peach seemed more caring than usual. She then talked about how Peach loves how Samus is different and that’s what Peach likes about her. Soon Samus just started flat out ranting. She told small stories of how she loves it when Peach and her don’t do any fighting at all. She told Knight of when Peach invited her over to her castle, just to watch movies and play video games.

The whole time Samus talked Knight simply listened. Knight wasn’t an expert on romance whatsoever, that being said he did know when someone should just talk to the person they like. Instead of ranting off to someone who doesn’t even talk. Eventually, Samus stopped talking and just sat silently, looking into the fire in front of her.

“I think I’ve always liked her, I’m just only releasing until now I guess.” Samus took a deep breath before speaking again. Samus never dated before and she wasn’t considered the romantic type. The whole idea of it made her nervous. “What to do?” she said it more to herself then Knight. It felt good to say what was on her mind, but now she had to figure out how to tell Peach.

“You know, I should just talk to her once this tournament is over.” She turned towards Knight. “Once this fighting is done, regardless if I win or lose, I’ll tell her. And I should try to do what I can to calm myself when it comes to Ridley. Does that sound good to you?”

Knight looked down and began thinking. To him, it sounded reasonable and if Samus keeps her angry together, it could work. He turned back to Samus and nodded.

“You're a good listener Knight. Thanks.”

With that, Samus got up and walked back to her room. Knight went back to watching the fireplace. Most of the things Samus talked about were a bit confusing to him. But he got the gist of it. As time went by more fighters started to wake up, the bar also happened to do breakfast as well, so some fighters were simply getting up to eat. Most of them, however, were still exhausted from yesterday and remained in bed. Knight didn’t need to eat so he remains near the fire, as he sat though, he could hear some loud footsteps coming near him. Knight turned around only to see two reptilian feet. He looked up and was now staring up at Ridley.

“You’ve said nothing right?” he spoke softly so the other fighters who were eating couldn’t hear.

Knight stared at him.

“Hello?” Ridley waved his hand in front of Knight. “You gonna say anything?”

Knight continued to stare. Ridley would never admit it, but Knight’s empty eyes were starting to freak him out.

“G-Guess you don’t talk . . . Good.” He walked him to the bar. “Hey! Can I get a drink?” It wasn’t Sly who was bartending today. Today it was a mouse with no arms or legs, wore a red suit and wore a huge red fedora.

“Sir it’s eight thirty in the morning. You sure?”

“Just get me a beer.” Demanded Ridley.

 

* * *

 

 

Peach woke up exhausted as everyone else.

She groaned as she pulled the blankets off and walked to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were filled with sleepers.

“Well . . . time to look all gothic.” She smirked to herself in the mirror and then walked over to her dresser. She pulled out her black dress and laid it out over her bed. Peach couldn’t wait to wear it, she also couldn’t wait for Samus to see her in it. After she put it on she fixed her hair and put her earrings and crown on. She looked at herself in the mirror again, making sure she looked at least decent. She then walked down the hall to the lounge for breakfast and was greeted by Zelda.

“Hey . . .” Zelda said in a tired voice, she bobbed her head up and down trying to stay awake. Zelda wasn’t even in one of her dresses, she was wearing ripped pajama bottoms and a ripped shirt that showed her belly button.

“Zelda if your still tired go back to bed.” said Peach.

“N-No I’m good . . . Listen, I get it now.” Zelda now had the biggest smile on her face.

“Get what?”

“You have a crush on-”

“Shush!” Peach quickly told Zelda to be quiet right before Lucina walked by.

“Morning guys.” She said.

“Morning.” Peach and Zelda said in unison. Peach glared at Zelda.

“Sorry.” Zelda rubbed her arm in embarrassment.

“It's fine just, let’s talk in your room.” Peach pulled Zelda into the room and quickly shut the door. Zelda went to sit on her bed. “Okay, you were saying.”

“I get it now, you have a crush on Samus.” Once again, her big smile returned.

“Yes I . . . have a crush on her.” Peach’s face went red. “Sad thing is though is that I don’t know if she likes me back.” Peach started passing back and forth.

“Oh, I’m sure she likes you, I should know.”

“How? Did she tell you?” Peach stopped passing and now stood perfectly still.

“Nope.” Zelda chuckled before continuing. “She was about to take out Ridley but stopped, looked around and just stared at you before getting into a fight with Dark Samus.”

“Really? She was that worried?” Peach began thinking of any other signs that Samus liked her back. But Peach couldn’t think of any aside from Samus stuttering on their walk. “She could’ve just been worried for me as a friend.”

“Don’t say that.” Zelda was suddenly awake, it was almost as if what Peach said made her annoyed. She shot up from her bed and walked up to Peach. “You two have been friends for as long as I can remember. Let me ask you this, have you been more flirty with her?”

Peach was taken aback. She wasn’t expecting Zelda to react like this.

“Y-Yes.”

“Have you made contact with her? Like touching her shoulder or something?”

“Yeah . . .”

“And how did she react?”

“. . . She would smile or say thank you for the nice things I said. Sometimes she would look at me with a certain look in her eyes.” Peach started smiling to herself, she loved it when Samus gave her that smile she always loved. She loved it when Samus looked at her with those gorgeous eyes. Peach’s face went even redder.

“See, I’m sure Samus is getting your little hints.” Zelda said with a triumphant smile on her face.

“You sure?”

“Samus isn’t stupid. I think she’s just nervous.”

“I guess, dating isn’t her forte.” Peach sat down on Zelda’s bed and began thinking. She had to figure out how to tell her, and then it hit her. “I’ll just tell her after the tournament.”

“That’s your plan?” Zelda raised an eyebrow.

“Think about it, we focus on the fighting, then when it’s all said and done, I tell her.” Before Zelda could speak Peach continued. “Yeah I know it’s frustrating, but I’d rather finish this tournament first before focusing on my personal life.” Zelda smiled at Peach.

“There’s the smart Peach I know.” Zelda’s head started bobbing up and down again.

“You should go back to bed.”

“I’m going back to bed.” Peach left to get breakfast while Zelda went back into bed for some much-needed sleep.


	6. Semi-Finals 1: Knight vs Bowser

After a day of rest, today was a day where the Semi-finals kicked off.

The eight fighters were all waiting in either their room or in the lounge waiting to be called. And the rest of the fighters were either in the lounge as well, or in their room. The Semi-Finals worked like this, there would be four different fights. One-on-one fights with randomly selected fighters. Whoever won moved on to the finals. The finals worked the same way except for this time there were only two fights. And after that The Final Fight. Peach, Samus, Knight, Zelda, and Kirby, were all waiting in the lounge. Knight and Kirby were busy playing a game where you had to fight glitches within a game. Kirby was playing a guy using some kind of lightsaber, while Knight played a guy who uses a baseball bat. The girls were relaxing on the couches waiting for who would be fighting first. 

“Who do you think is going first?” asked Peach.

“I’m betting that they’ll make Bowser and Knight fight,” said Zelda.

“Why’s that?” asked Samus.

“The big guy versus the little guy. Why wouldn’t you make’em fight?” 

“Who do you think your fighting Samus?” asked Peach.

“I’m fine with whoever I fight. Who knows, I might end up fighting one of you.” Samus smirked as she looked at Peach and Zelda. Peach smirked back.

“I’d beat your ass.” Peach said with a giggle.

“Attention fighters!” said a loud voice from the speakers. “Today the Semi-Finals start! And it is now time for our first Semi-Final Fight!” 

Everyone went quiet.

“Our first Semi-Final fight is, Knight versus Bowser! Bowser report to the meeting room 2 and Knight report to meeting room 3 in five minutes!” Knight paused the game and looked toward Zelda, but said nothing.

“Called it.” she said.

“Well Knight,” said Peach “Hope you're ready. Bowser can really pack a punch.” 

Knight got up and walked towards Peach. Knight wanted to ask for advice but, couldn’t. Knight thought about how lucky Hornet was, she was made of Void as well but could still talk. Knight put his stubby hand on his chin and tried to think of a way to get the message across.

“Hey, remember when I told you you’ll do great when we went out together? What I said there, also applies here.” Peach’s calming voice once again helped Knight. And once again he nodded in reply. “Just do your best out there, now get going.” 

As Peach spoke, Samus looked at the exchange. She thought about how Peach was so good at helping anyone out and it brought a smile to her face. Zelda took notice and smiled, but said nothing.

Knight walked toward the door to the meeting room, as he walked by Kirby waved at him for good luck. Knight waved back.

“He took out Ryu, I’m sure he’ll be great.” said Samus.

“He’s such a cutie.” said Zelda. “Peach, you said you and Samus found him in the woods, right?”

“Yup. The little guy was lost, I’m glad we found him.” 

“I wonder what his Final Smash will be.” 

“Well, will half to wait and see.” said Samus

 

Knight walked down the hallway to meeting room 3, it was a long walk, but he soon found it. He was a few minutes early, but he didn’t care. As he entered, he took note of what the room looked like. There was a small chair in the middle to sit on. As he sat down, he noticed a big metal door in front of him. He didn’t pay much attention since the door opened again. The person that entered was a turtle in a wheelchair and was wearing big glasses. 

“Hello, my name is Bentley.” Bentley pulled a notebook, looked it over and then put in back in his pocket. “Okay, so this should be fairly simple.”

Knight said nothing.

“It’s a one on one fight, there are no items whatsoever, the only item there is, is a Smash Ball, which will only appear once. So, try your best to grab it. When you do get it, simple smash it to pieces and you’ll be able to use your ultimate. It could change the fight very quickly if you acquire it.” 

Knight continued to say nothing. Bentley wasn’t sure if this new fighter was daydreaming.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” 

Knight looked down for a moment before answering. He wasn’t sure what a Smash Ball was but figured he would know once he saw it. Other than that, he was sure he understood it fairly well. He nodded towards Bentley. 

“Alright.” Bentley moved towards the metal door. He pushed the button beside it and it opened. “Just step inside and you’ll be on your way to the fight. Good luck, Bowser’s one mean turtle.” 

Knight stepped inside and the door closed. The room started to move, it felt as if he was moving upward. Within a few moments it stopped, and the doors opened. Knight stepped out and was standing in the middle of the arena once again. 

But it wasn’t the same arena as before. Instead of a plain, rock looking arena, this one was a field of grass with four trees spread randomly throughout. Knight took note that the elevator was popping out from the ground and quickly shut closed and retreated back into the ground. 

Knight looked across the arena, and there was Bowser stepping out of his elevator. Bowser looked right back at him, he also cracked his knuckles while smiling to intimidate Knight . . . It didn’t work. 

“Here we are, folks, the first fight of the Semi-Finals!” shouted Howard from the speakers. The audience roared with excitement, there was just something so thrilling seeing a small fighter against a bigger fighter. “Now Kreese I half to ask, publicly, for everyone to hear. How does it feel losing a bet? Since you bet fifty bucks on both Megaman and Ganon.” 

“Quit bugging me about that!” shouted Kreese. 

“Well, today we’ve got a small little soulless warrior, Knight! And across from him, we’ve got our big fire breathing turtle, Bowser!” 

“I ain’t betting money this time! I’m just gonna watch and enjoy!” 

Knight and Bowser walked closer to each other but stopped at a fair distance away just so they could hear each other.

“Alright shrimpy, you ready?” asked Bowser with the look of rage in his eyes.

Knight said nothing, instead, he drew his nail and took a fighting stance.

“That’s what I like to hear.” Bowser smiled.

“FIGHT!” yelled Howard and Kreese. 

Bowser lunged towards Knight grabbing him, Bowser then jumped into the air and did a body slam. Knight shot his Abyss Shriek to get Bowser off, it worked but only sent bowser back a few feet. Bowser then started swinging his claws at Knight, Knight was quick enough to dodge but wasn’t expecting Bowser to suddenly breathe fire. He used Sharp Shadow to avoid the attack. 

The fire started to spread Within seconds the beautiful grass field became a scorching hellscape. Knight had to think of a way to get an upper hand. 

“You might be a fast-little guy, but what I lack in speed I make up for with strength.” Bowser spits out a huge fireball towards Knight, who dashed to the left, avoiding it. Knight started to think of a solution as Bowser continually attacked but missing every time. That’s when Knight saw it, a Smash Ball, right beside one of the burning trees. Knight made a mad dash towards it. Jumping over the fire and avoiding Bowser's attacks. Soon, Bowser saw the Smash Ball as well, and he stopped attacking Knight and started running towards it. 

Knight readied his nail, he remembered what Bentley said, just smash it. 

Soon he was eight feet away.

Then six.

Then four.

Then right before Knight could slash at it, Bowser shoved Knight away, grabbed the Smash Ball, and crushed it to pieces. Bowser was now glowing with power, Knight looked at him with both curiosity and worry. 

“Showtime.” Bowser said with a grin.

Suddenly the arena was surrounded in a purple void, and Bowser was floating in the air. But he was ten times bigger than what he was, his horns were longer and larger. And he was aiming his fist at Knight. 

Knight saw the large fist coming towards him, and he was running, hoping to avoid the attack. But when Knight got to the edge of the arena he had nowhere to go. He turned around and was greeted with Bowser's fist. 

Accept, Knight never felt the strike. It hit him but it didn't hurt him or send him flying. Soon the purple void disappeared, and the rest of the stadium could be seen. 

Audience members were confused as to what just happened, Knight should have been knocked out but was still standing.

Knight was a bit confused until he looked into his cloak and looked at the charms he had equipped, one of them was Carefree Melody. Which would randomly prevent attacks from hitting. 

Knight released a sigh of relief and soon turned his attention back to Bowser. 

“What!? How did that miss!?” Bowser roared in frustration, breathing fire in the process.

“I don’t know how it happened, but Knight seemed to dodge that attack!” cheered Howard.

“It seemed like he tanked it! Damn, tough little guy!” said Kreese.

Bowser began rushing towards Knight, his rage continued to grow. He hated that he just wasted a Smash ball and he hated Knight more now than ever. 

Knight used Sharp Shadow to go right through Bowser, causing him to stutter in his movement. Knight then used the Weaver song charm to summon four weaverlings, all four crawled onto Bowser, biting endlessly. 

While Bowser was distracted Knight took this moment to concentrate all his energy into his nail. Bowser did get all the weaverlings off but was soon greeted with a powerful slash from Knight.

Bowser was knocked over on his back, but before he could get back up Knight jumped over him and came crashing down using his Descending Dark. The force was so strong it pushed Bowser into the ground making a small crater. 

Bowser was out cold, Knight stood on top of Bowser, victorious. Soon the fire had nothing to burn, and the arena was now no more than a scorched dead field. 

The audience cheered with excitement and the sound of clapping echoed throughout the stadium. Soon Koopa Paratroopa’s came flying in with ropes, once they tied them, they carried Bowser out of the arena. 

The elevator from before popped up again, Knight walked inside and waited for it to open again. 

 

Everyone, with a few exceptions, was all in the lounge. They were all watching the fight on the TV at the bar, drinking and commenting on the fight. Now that it was over most of them left, but the three girls wanted to graduate Knight when he walked in. 

When Knight walked in he was greeted with clapping, Bayonetta told him his dive attack was great, Snake said that his “Baby spiders” were a great way to distract Bowser, and Kirby put his hand up for a high five. 

Except this time, Knight finished the high five himself. Knight walked over to the bar where the three girls were. Peach looked at Knight with a warm smile.

“I knew you could do it.” she said.

“What were those little spiders of yours?” asked Zelda. Knight summoned one of the weaverlings and gave it to Zelda. “Oh my god it’s so cute!” the weaverling looked at Zelda, it really didn’t know what to do. Normally they kill any threat near there bearer, but Zelda wasn’t a threat, so it simply sat in the palm of her hand.

“Can I keep it?” Zelda’s eyes were wide. Knight tilted his head in confusion. The weaverlings were bound to him so it would follow him wherever. Once again, Knight wished he could talk. 

“Zelda,” said Samus. “I don’t think you can keep it.” 

“Aww, oh well.” Zelda gave back to weaverling, and in an instant, it disappeared into Knight’s cloak. 

“Okay, I need to know.” Knight looked at Samus. “How did you avoid Bowser’s ultimate?” Knight opened his cloak, and showed them the charms he had equipped, he pointed toward the Carefree Melody charm. 

“Oh, so it gives you a small amount of invincibility?” 

Knight said nothing. 

“I’m going to assume it is.” 

“Hey Knight, they have an army of goomba’s fighting an army of Pikmin in the arena. Want to watch?” asked Peach. Knight figured why not. He sat next to Peach and looked up at the TV. 

As he watched he wondered who he would be fighting next.


	7. Semi-Finals 2: Kirby vs Samus

“Attention! We are now going to announce the second Semi-Finals fight!”

 

It was the day after the fight between Knight and Bowser, and the second Semi-Final fight was today. Every fighter stopped what they were doing and listened carefully.

 

“It is, Kirby versus Samus! Kirby, please go to meeting room 2 and Samus to meeting room 3 in five minutes!”

 

Peach was in the lounge when she heard. Once she did, a huge smile grew on her face and she ran to Samus’s room. The door was closed, and Peach started knocking rapidly.

 

“Samus! Your Up!” she happily.

 

“I heard, I’m getting ready. Just give me a sec.” said Samus. After a minute Samus came out of her room. She wasn’t wearing her usual armor, this one had a bronze like color with a bit a grey in a few spots.

 

“Oh, I like it.” Peach looked over Samus, from top to bottom and soon back to her face. Samus blushed under her helmet.

 

“Thanks, I figured something new would be nice. Wish me luck.” Samus began walking down to the meeting room.

 

“Don’t I always?” asked Peach with a smirk.

 

Samus turned around and answered in a sarcastic tone. “I’d like to think so.” Peach chuckled.

 

“Seriously though, good luck.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

______

 

 

Samus made her way down to the meeting room, all the while thinking of strategies to beat Kirby. She had fought Kirby multiple times in past tournaments, so she knew his move set pretty well. The one big problem though was that Kirby knew her move set, even if he was a baby.

 

She had to be careful with this battle. _It couldn’t have been Ridley?_ She thought. Samus then took a deep breath as she walked, she reminded herself that it didn’t matter if she fought Ridley later or not. She decided to focus on the fight and fight as best she could.

 

She walked into the room and took a seat in the chair and waited. Soon a Poe came floating in.

 

“Hello Samus, my names Beth, nice to finally meet you.” she said.

 

“Hello, I’m guessing you're a huge fan?” Samus said trying to hide her annoyance. She was used to this, some people who worked at the tournament would sometimes say they were fans. However, some in the past have been bothersome. Constantly asking for audio graphs and pictures, some were fired because of it.

 

Samus was prepared for some of that any minute.

 

“Well yes, But I would just like to say you're going to kick some serious ass.” she said in a casual tone. Beth then pulled out her clipboard and started looking over it.

 

Samus was expecting something annoying, but this ghost was nonchalant.

 

“Anyway, it’s very simple, just defeat Kirby. There are no items except the Smash Ball, which will only show up once. But I’m guessing you got already know that?” Beth smiled after she finished. Samus had to admit this ghost was smart enough to know that she had done this before.

 

“Yup, now let's open that elevator.” Samus got up from the chair, Beth opened the door and Samus walked in. The elevator began to move, and Samus started to hear the sounds of the audience.

 

Soon the door opened and Samus was now in the arena. The layout and look of the arena were completely different from the last Semi-Final fight. This time there were small hills waving up and down, and instead of grass, the hills were covered in a sea of pink flowers. And there were five cherry blossom trees, one at each end of the arena and one in the middle.

 

“Alright folks, we’ve got an interesting one here today!” shouted Howard.

 

“A cute pink ball versus a badass bounty hunter, I’ve seen weirder!” said Kreese.

 

Samus looked across the arena and saw Kirby stepping out of the elevator. They both walked towards each other and both stopped right in front of the tree that was in the middle. The wind was causing the cherry blossom leaves to blow around and neither Kirby or Samus talked, both were silent. Until Kirby took a fighting stance while smiling at Samus.

 

_He’s always so happy._ Samus thought to herself as she smiled and took her fighting stance.

 

“Ready everyone? FIGHT!” yelled Howard and Kreese.

 

Samus fired two missiles at Kirby one destroying the tree in front of her and the other heading towards Kirby. Kirby inhaled it and spat it back out at Samus.

 

Samus fired at it blowing it up in mid-air and then started running around Kirby’s left side while firing wrapped shots. Kirby was quick enough to dodge and began moving in on Samus.

 

Kirby started attacking Samus up close with multiple punches and kicks, the first few hit Samus in the head and the next few hit her chest, sending her back a few feet. Samus then rushed forward ramming Kirby in the face and knocking him back. Samus launched another missile which hit the ground near Kirby, she then ran forward and when Kirby least expected it Samus kicked him in the face.

 

Kirby went flying back and slammed into one of the trees in the corner, Samus took this opportunity to charge her arm cannon, once charged she fired it. When it got near Kirby however, he inhaled it and swallowed it, which turned him into one of his many copy abilities, Plasma.

 

Kirby was now no longer pink and was now green with electricity sparking out of the top of his head. He shot plasma bolts at Samus went into ball form and began dodging. Unlike Samus’s missiles, Kirby’s plasma would never run out, so Samus had to figure out how to attack him without giving him another copy ability.

 

Soon Samus had an idea. She started rolling towards Kirby and readied a bomb to throw at just the right time. Kirby started to get scared as Samus got closer, he started shooting rapidly without aiming and missed each time.

 

Right as Kirby fired a plasma bolt, Samus jumped over the bolt and dropped the bomb right in front of the bolt. The plasma mixed with the bomb’s explosives caused it to explode with greater force than usual, and since the bolt was so close Kirby, the explosion went off right in Kirby’s face.

 

Samus managed to roll away in time and came out of ball form. She looked at the destruction and saw Kirby kneeling on the ground panting for air. His plasma ability was gone as well, it looked like Kirby was about finished when out of nowhere, the Smash Ball landed down from above right next to Kirby. Kirby turned to his left, looking at the ball before realizing that he had hope and began smiling.

 

He smashed it and the all too familiar glow emanated around him. Samus rolled her eyes and groaned at the dumb luck Kirby got and prepared herself for Kirby’s Final Smash. Kirby ran forward, jumped up in the air and activated his Final Smash. Both his green tunic and his huge sword appeared out of thin air and he began to swing it towards Samus. Samus was more than prepared however and as the attack came, she dodged to the right, completely avoiding the assault.

 

“Even with his Final Smash Kirby failed. What a shame.” said Howard.

 

“Give him some credit he got a bunch of missiles to the face!” said Kreese.

 

Kirby’s attack did destroy half the arena. When his sword hit the ground, it cracked it in half sending one half plunging down into the water. Samus got up from her dodge and made her way to Kirby, who was once again panting on the ground. Kirby may have had his Final Smash, but he sustained more damage so even with his Final Smash Samus was in way better shape to avoid it.

 

Samus now stood in front of Kirby. It was risky since Kirby could inhale her, but he was too exhausted to move. Samus now pointed her gun at him.

 

“Give up?” Samus asked politely. Kirby looked up at Samus, his head was dizzy, and he could barely move. But he still attempted to speak

 

“K-Kir-byyyyyyy.” with that, Kirby fell forward and was passed out. The audience cheered and began chanting Samus’s name over and over. Samus kneeled, picked Kirby up and cradled him in her arms.

 

“You’ll be alright little guy. You fought well.” Samus continued to cradle Kirby until a few waddle dee medics came rushing over. Once they had him, they and Samus went across the bridge and went back inside.

 

“Well folks I think we can all agree the collateral damage was much worse here than the last battle.” said Howards cheerfully.

 

“The first one they burned the arena to waste, and here half the damn arena is gone! What next?” shouted Kreese.

 

______

 

 

Back inside, Samus walked into the lounge and just like Knight, was greeted with clapping. She was told she did well by all the other fighters, but she was interested in what Peach thought of it. She didn’t think of it until now but, she did it. She only thought of the fight and stayed focused, and now she was on to the next round because of it. She felt so happy for herself but still wanted to how Peach felt about the win.

 

“Awesome job out there Samus.” said Zelda with a big smile.

 

“Even when Kirby had the Smash Ball, you still won. I love that.” Peach said with a grin.

 

“Thanks.” said Samus as she took her helmet off. She smiled knowing that Peach loved the fight. Zelda noticed the two of them staring at each other and thought it might be better if she left. She looked around for a way out, she noticed Mewtwo sitting on one of the couches drinking coffee.

 

“Oh hey, Mewtwo needs me. I’ll be right back.” she said as she walked away slightly giggling to herself.

 

“So,” said Samus as they began walking to the bar and taking a seat. “How are you feeling about there only being four left?”

 

“I’m excited as hell! I wonder who I’m fighting?” said Peach with that same devilish grin.

 

“About that . . .” Samus was a bit nervous to bring it up but said it anyway. “You might be fighting Ridley and well . . .”

 

“I’ll be fine, besides I might end up fighting Pac-Man or Zelda.”

 

“I know it’s just . . .” Samus couldn’t find the right words.

 

“I know your worried Samus, but you’ve seen me fight. If I do end up fighting him, I’ll kick his ass until he can’t even walk.” Peach’s sweet devilish grin now turned into an evil grin.

 

“Easy queen of evil,” Samus said sarcastically. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”

 

Samus then felt a small tug from her leg. She looked down and saw Knight looking up at her. He raised his arm up for a high five.

 

“Oh, I see.” Samus gave Knight the high five. “Thanks, Knight.” Little did Samus know that Knight was listening to her and Peach talk. And the high five wasn't for the fight, it was for Samus talking to Peach about her feelings. Even if it wasn’t about her having a crush on Peach, it was a start.


	8. Semi-Finals 3: Peach vs Pac-Man

Peach sat in her room waiting for whoever's name would be called.

 

Peach simply wanted some time to herself and wanted more time to read the book that she brought with her. As she read through, she began remembering Samus’s worry for her. Peach was more than confident in her abilities, and whoever she fought, she would give it her all. But she understood Samus worries, after all, Ridley has a reputation of being vicious.

 

But the one thing that Peach really liked about Samus worrying a lot was that it gave herself proof that Samus liked her and cared about her. She still thought it was a long shot, but she kept her hopes up regardless.

 

Soon Peach got tired of her book, she put a bookmark in and closed it. She left it on her bed and made her way to the lounge. As she walked the speakers came on.

 

“Attention! The third Semi-Finals fight is,” he paused for effect. “Peach versus Pac-Man! Peach, meeting room 2 and Pac-Man meeting room 3 in five minutes!”

 

Peach was now more excited than ever as she walked. It was her turn to fight and she couldn’t be happier to show off to Samus. She slightly blushed at the thought of Samus watching her fight but shook it off and continued her way to the meeting room.

 

When she reached the lounge Samus, Zelda and Knight were all sitting on the ground near the fireplace playing monopoly, they looked at Peach as she walked by.

 

“Good luck out there.” said Zelda.

 

“Glad you're still wearing the black dress.” said Samus as she looked over Peach’s dress.

 

“Thanks, guys. No promises on the dress not getting ruined.” Peach gave Samus a wink and made her way through the door.

 

Knight simply waved and said nothing.

 

\----

 

Peach walked into the meeting room, sat on the chair and waited. Soon a woman wearing a black shirt and black skirt walked in.

 

“Hey Peach! Been a while!” the woman said.

 

“Hey Sylvia, how you been?” asked Peach.

 

“I’ve been good, works still exciting and difficult as always. What about you? I heard you got to use a gun.”

 

“Yup. Loved it, wish I brought it though.”

 

“That’s alright, you have a stone hard ass.” Sylvia grinned. “Anyway, no items, only the Smash Ball, that’s about it. You already to fight?”

 

“I’m ready.” Peach said excitedly as she got up from her chair. “Let’s open that elevator.” The elevator opened and Peach stepped in. As the door closed, Sylvia spoke.

 

“Kick some ass Peach.”

 

“Oh, I will.”

 

The elevator moved and Peach began taking a few deep breaths. She would be alone, and she had no idea how the arena would look. Even with her confidence Peach felt nervous, Samus would be watching and that made Peach feel-

 

_Focus Peach! Focus! S_ he told herself. She took a few more deep breaths and she was calm again. Soon the elevator opened, and Peach stepped out into the arena. The arena was fixed after what Kirby did to it, Peach didn’t know how they fixed it in a day but figured it was some form of magic.

 

The layout of the arena was beautiful. The grass was short all the way to the edge, and instead of trees placed out, there was bamboo all around her. It was hard to see how tall the bamboo went but it was taller than any other tree she had seen in the Mushroom Kingdom. There was even a thin layer of mist around the arena, Peach could still see around her and she figured it was only here for the atmosphere.

 

“Today we have two legendary fighters, the famous damsel in distress, Peach!” shouted Howard. “And the infamous dot-munching warrior, Pac-Man!” The audience cheered loudly, one half of the audience was cheering Peach, the other for Pac-Man.

 

“You know this arena is so nice looking, the people that worked on it put so much effort in. . . . How bad do you think it’ll look afterward?” asked Kreese.

 

“It won’t even be recognizable.” said Howard with a chuckle.

 

Peach walked through the Bamboo forest to the middle and was now face to face with Pac-Man, he gave her a thumbs up and a wink and took his fighting stance.

 

“Good luck to you too.” said Peach as she stood ready.

 

“FIGHT!”

 

Pac-Man dashed forward in his original form, Peach jumped over him and kicked downward at him. Pac-Man took the hit but then jumped back and kicked Peach in the stomach, sending her back, destroying some bamboo as well. Peach got up and began throwing a few turnips, Pac-Man simple ate them as he ran towards Peach. When he got close, he attacked Peach with Blinky and then began punching and kicking rapidly. When he finished, he then attacked with his Galaxian, it spun in the air hitting Peach and then spun around back hitting her back.

 

Pac-Man put it away once he caught it, he was about to continue his onslaught when Peach rammed Pac-Man with her ass sending him back. Peach had to think quick, his onslaught tired her out and she needed a way to take him out quick. She looked behind her and noticed the edge of the arena was close, then she had a plan.

 

Peach started running toward to edge of the arena, and as Peach suspected Pac-Man followed. Once she was near the edge she stopped, Pac-Man came near and when he least expected it, Peach grabbed him and began pummeling him. After a few hits, Peach spun around and threw him over the edge. Peach let out a sigh and she started to relax, but then she heard the sound of a trampoline, and then she heard it again.

 

Then out of nowhere, Pac-Man jumped up from below and landed back on the arena. Pac-Man started throwing multiple different fruits, Peach pulled out her parasol and started defecting the variety of fruit, an apple, a cherry, a strawberry, and then a melon came towards her. Instead of using the parasol, Peach pulled out her frying pan and swatted the melon, shattering it to pieces.

 

Pac-Man ran towards Peach and started another onslaught of attacks, except this time Peach was ready. She used her frying pan as both a weapon and as a mini shield to block Pac-Man’s punches and mainly used her parasol as a weapon. As their fight continued, Peach noticed something off in the distance behind Pac-Man. Something shiny was jammed into a cluster of bamboo, it was the Smash Ball. Peach didn’t want Pac-Man to notice so she jumped over him and was now behind him. Their melee combat continued but as the fight went on, Peach carefully kept moving back to get closer to the Smash Ball. She also made sure to block Pac-Man’s sight of it as they fought so he wouldn’t start running for it.

 

Soon she was near the cluster of bamboo that held the Smash Ball, she stopped moving back held her ground. When she saw an opening, she rammed her ass at Pac-Man again and once he was far enough away, she smashed the Smash Ball with her frying pan. The fiery glow emanated around her and she turned her attention back to Pac-Man, who now had a look of horror on his face.

 

Peach began her dancing and out of nowhere music was playing and peaches fell from the sky. Pac-Man tried his best to stay awake but was soon lying on the ground out cold. Peach walked up to Pac-Man and as he slept, she swung her parasol at his head, leaving a red mark across his face. Pac-Man was somewhat awake now but still wasn’t ready for Peach to swing her frying pan at his head, leaving another red mark. Pac-Man was now fully awake but right before he could attack, Peach swung both her parasol and her frying pan at the same time, both colliding onto Pac-Man’s head.

 

Pac-Man bobbed his head up and down a few times, looked around confused and dizzy, and fell face first into the grass. The second Pac-Man hit the ground the one half of the audience cheered, while the other stayed silent.

 

“Wow, the arena didn’t get mangled today.” said Kreese.

 

“Either way the fight was still great.” said Howard.

 

Peach looked down at Pac-Man, she felt a little sorry for him. But she was still glad she won. he did put up a good fight though, and even though he was unconscious, she felt she should say something.

 

“Nice fighting Pac.” she said. Soon two Pooka’s and two Pygar’s came running out of the bamboo forest and began caring Pac-Man back inside the stadium. Peach walked back to where the elevator was, it came up and a door opened. She walked inside and couldn’t wait to get some rest.

 

\----

 

Samus had been watching the fight on the TV at the bar in the lounge, and not once did she move or say a word.

 

She just couldn’t stop staring at Peach fighting and the whole time she watched she had a smile on her face. Zelda had also been sitting with Samus while the fight happened, and while she did watch the fight, she also loved seeing Samus smile while watching her crush fight. Only when the fight ended did she speak.

 

“That was a great fight.” said Samus.

 

“Yeah I bet you enjoyed it.” said Zelda with a grin.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Oh nothing, what did you think of it Knight?” Zelda looked to the left of her and waited for Knight’s response.

 

Knight looked at Zelda and stared. Zelda looked back at Samus.

 

“He liked it.”

 

Soon Peach entered the room and everyone clapped. Shulk gave her a handshake, Daisy gave her a hug and Luigi said she should teach him some moves. She then walked to where the others were and sat next to Samus.

 

“How did I do?” she asked with a grin. What Peach really wanted to know was what did Samus think of it.

 

“You were amazing. The way you finished off Pac-Man was great.” said Samus with a huge smile. Peach felt herself blushing.

 

“Nice job out there.” said Zelda.

 

“Thanks, guys, what did you think it Knight?” Peach wasn’t expecting an answer but wanted to see if Knight would do anything.

 

Knight looked over and said nothing.

 

“Thank you, Knight.” Peach figured it was his way of saying ‘Good job’.

 

“Now guys,” it was Zelda who spoke, except her voice was now more serious. “Before you say it, yes I know, I’m fighting Ridley tomorrow.”

 

Samus and Peach went quiet, they both knew it would come up and that one of them would end up fighting him. Samus then remembered when she and Peach talked about it yesterday, and then she spoke.

 

“Just do your best.” Zelda was a bit shocked.

 

“You're not scared or worried?”

 

“I am, but this was inevitable and I’m sure you’ll beat him.” Zelda looked at Samus and a small smile grew over her face.

 

“Thanks for trusting me.”

 

“Where did Knight go?” asked Peach. The girls looked around them and around the lounge but couldn’t find him.

 

“I’m sure he’s just looking for Kirby.” said Samus.

 

\----

 

Knight was in the boy's hallway looking for a certain room that a certain someone was occupying. As he walked some of the other fighters took notice of him.

 

“Hey, nice job beating up Bowser little guy.” said Wario.

 

Knight kept walking.

 

“Hey, I never said this earlier, your fight with Bowser was great.” said Pit.

 

Knight kept walking.

 

He eventually found the room and knocked on it.

 

“Give me a sec.” said a grumpy voice. Soon the door opened, and Ridley stood before Knight. “What?”

 

Knight stared.

 

“Okay listen,” Ridley paused for a moment. This little creature was frustrating him. He wanted to talk but couldn’t, didn’t bring cards with words or even a piece of paper with a message on it. He then continued. “I can’t read your mind. So, if you have something to show me, show it.”

 

Knight looked at Ridley, then down the hall that led back to the lounge. He looked back at Ridley and then started walking back to the lounge.

 

“Ooookay I guess I’m following you.” Ridley followed and soon they were at the door that led to the lounge. “So, what is it?” asked Ridley.

 

Knight only opened the door a little, but just enough so they could see the bar. Knight pointed towards Zelda, shut the door and then stared back Ridley. Ridley thought for a moment, even began scratching his chin. And soon he figured it out.

 

“Oh, I see. You're worried for her.” Ridley suddenly had a terrifying grin. “Well, here’s the thing, people get hurt at the Smash Bros tournament. I mean, look at what you did to Bowser.” he said sarcastically.

 

Ridley then leaned in close to Knight, so they were nearly at eye level.

 

“But hey, just for you I’ll go easy on her, promise.” Ridley patted Knight on the head and began walking back to his room.

 

As he walked away, Knight stared at Ridley. Knight wasn’t an expert with people, but he knew for a fact that Ridley was lying.


	9. Semi-Finals 4: Zelda vs Ridley

Zelda was sitting down on one of the couches near the fireplace and waiting for the inevitable fight to be announced.

 

She knew this fight would not be easy, she would need every bit of skill she had and every bit of luck there was. Ridley would be going in hard and not show one bit of mercy, she had fought people like this before, but it still scared her regardless.

 

Zelda closed her eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled, she needed to be calm. She mentally told herself that even if she lost she will go down fighting. Zelda then felt a small tug at her dress, she opened her eyes saw Knight looking at her.

 

“Hey Knight.” she said with a fake smile. “What is it?”

 

Knight stared at her, and if his face could make expressions his would be a face of worry. Luckily Zelda was good with people.

 

“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m not showing any mercy.”

 

“Attention! The Final-Semi’s fight is Zelda vs Ridley! Zelda to meeting room 2 and Ridley to meeting room 3 in five minutes!”

 

Zelda got up from the couch and made her way to the door when Samus and Peach came up to her.

 

“Kick his ass.” Samus said with a smile.

 

“Good luck Zelda.” said Peach. Zelda gave them both a reassuring smile.

 

“Thanks guys, see you when it’s over.”

 

Zelda made her way to the meeting room, sat in the chair and waited. She could hear her heartbeat increasing but chose to ignore it. Soon a skeleton wearing a blue sweater came in.

 

“hey there, I’m sure you already know the rules.” said the skeleton.

 

“No items, only the Smash Ball, got it.” said Zelda.

 

“good, let's get you up there.” He opened the elevator and Zelda stepped inside as it closed the skeleton spoke. “gooooing up.”

 

Zelda’s heartbeat got faster and faster as the elevator moved upward. She took another deep breath and exhaled. You’ll be fine. Just do your best. She thought. Soon the door opened, and she walked out into the arena.

 

The arena this time had the look of a swamp. There were four separate platforms made of what looked to be large grey bricks with vines growing along with them. In between these platforms was muddy green water with insects flying above it. At the edge of the arena, bricks were laid out to keep all the water in. The smell was awful, and it made Zelda want to puke.

 

She looked across the arena and saw Ridley stepping out of the elevator, even he hated the smell as he walked out. Ridley soon saw Zelda and smiled.

 

“What a shitty looking arena, real step down from the last one.” said Kreese.

 

“Well not all of them can be great.” said Howard.

 

Zelda and Ridley walked to the edge of each of their platforms, both stared at each as they took their fighting stance.

 

“May the best fighter win.” said Zelda in an emotionless tone.

 

“Plan on it.” Ridley said with a grin.

 

“FIGHT!”

 

Ridley immediately launched forward at Zelda and tried to grab her. Zelda used Farore’s Wind and teleported behind Ridley, she then used Din’s Fire which caught Ridley off guard. Ridley turned around and fired a fireball at Zelda and started running toward her. Zelda used Nayru’s Love to block the fireball, once her shield Ridley was upon her. He dashed forward and bit at her side and then whipped his tail at her face sending her rolling backward. Zelda quickly got up and summoned her Phantom Slash, the phantom hit Ridley knocking him back before disappearing.

 

Zelda fired multiple fireballs at Ridley, all which Ridley avoided by flying into the air. He then flew over Zelda and came crashing down as fast as lighting. While the attack didn’t hit Zelda, the impact of the force sent Zelda flying backward right into the muddy green water.

 

Zelda stood, choosing to get angry about her now ruined dress later. She was about to use Din’s Fire again when her left foot touched something. She looked done and saw a faint glow coming from the water, the Smash Ball. She looked back up and saw Ridley charging towards her, she prepared herself for when Ridley got close enough. He was soon only a few feet away and Zelda smashed the ball with her foot, she activated her Final Smash and Ridley was trapped inside the Triforce of Wisdom.

 

The attacks on Ridley were relentless and once the Final Smash was over it sent him backward. Ridley laid down on the ground and seemed unconscious. Zelda stepped out the water and back on one of the four platforms.

 

“That all you got?” shouted Ridley.

 

Zelda’s heart stopped. Ridley was getting up and still looked fit for battle. He cracked his neck and smiled at Zelda.

 

Zelda used Phantom Slash but as the phantom made his attack, Ridley grabbed the phantom and shoved it into the water. He then launched forward and grabbed Zelda and began pummeling her. Once he finished, he then held her by her legs, began swinging Zelda in the air and then started smashing Zelda on the ground from his right and then to his left. Zelda felt every inch of her face hitting the solid ground, each hit made her dizzier, each hit made her head bleed more, it felt like her skull was about to crack open.

 

Ridley then flung her in the air and as she fell back down, he caught her with his tail. Zelda looked helpless in his tail, her head was bleeding, she could barely keep her eyes open, her face was bruised, and covered in dirt. Ridley brought Zelda close to himself and then whispered into her ear.

 

“I win.”

 

Ridley then spun around and put as much force as he could into his tail as he threw Zelda into the water causing her to zip through the water and hit her head at the edge of the arena where the bricks were laid out, knocking her unconscious. Her head was above water, so she wasn’t drowning, but her head was bleeding endless.

 

“Holy shit! No mercy whatsoever!” shouted Kreese.

 

“Well folks I sure hope you enjoyed that as much as we did.” said Howard.

 

The audience cheered for Ridley and he loved every bit of it. He raised his fists in the air and smiled more than ever. Eventually, some Gerudo medics were on the scene and were taking Zelda to the infirmary, Ridley walked back into the elevator and smiled knowing that Samus was watching.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Samus had been clutching a glass of peach vodka through the whole fight. As soon as Ridley finished off Zelda, she crushed the glass into pieces and her drink spilled along the counter. The bartender, Sly, simply looked at the mess, shrugged and got a towel to clean it.

 

Samus held a glare as she watched the TV as she watched Ridley raising his arms in the air smiling. Every other fighter who had been watching either made their way back to their dorms or stayed to congratulate Ridley. Samus knew Zelda might lose but wasn’t expecting Ridley to nearly kill her. Samus continued to clench her fists and soon her knuckles were white.

 

Peach looked over at her wasn’t sure what to say, normally she would, but she wasn’t expecting this.

 

“It wasn’t fair.” said Samus through gritted teeth. “Zelda fights better at a distance and having someone like Ridley fight her is insane.” Peach thought for a moment before speaking and then spoke.

 

“Even so, we knew she could lose.” Peach said calmly and slowly. She didn’t want to make Samus any angrier.

 

“I’m going to kill him.”

 

“That won’t help” said Sly. Samus and Peach looked at Sly. “You should probably go see your friend.” Sly then walked away to serve more customers leaving Peach and Samus alone.

 

“Come on, let’s go see her.” said Peach as she got up from her seat. Before Samus could follow, she felt a tug at her leg, it was Knight.

 

“Hey.” Samus looked down at Knight. She couldn’t see any emotion from him, but she figured this was his way of saying he felt the same. “I mean, it was bound to happen I guess.”

 

Knight stared.

 

“You don’t half to tag along. Will be back soon.” As Samus walked away Knight just stood still. He felt guilty. It wasn’t necessarily his fault, even if he didn’t talk to Ridley he still wouldn’t have shown mercy. But it didn’t help.

 

Knight sat at the bar and looked down. He didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t even talk to help Samus and Peach feel better.

 

All he could do was hope for tomorrow to be better.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“How are you feeling?” Peach asked. Zelda was finally awake in the infirmary. She had a splitting headache and had bandages over her cracked skull.

 

“Despite the pain I’m good.” She gave a half smile.

 

“That wasn’t a fair fight you know that, right?” asked Samus. Samus knew the fighters were chosen at random, but it still annoyed her that the fight was unfair.

 

“Hey come on, I knew. I still fought regardless.”

 

“I know.” Samus sighed. “Whatever, hope you get better soon.” Samus walked out leaving Zelda and Peach behind.

 

“She is letting her anger get the best of her.” said Zelda. She turned to look at Peach. “It’s what he wants isn’t it?”

 

“. . . Yeah. So now what?”

 

“I’m not embarrassed that I lost. Maybe you should remind her of that.”

 

“This is Ridley.”

 

“You went through the same thing with Bowser.” Zelda gave Peach a smirk. She was right though when Bowser joined the Smash Brothers tournament Peach didn’t like seeing him, she hated it. But over time she learned to live with it and just to go with the flow. Zelda even went through the same thing with Ganon.

 

“True. I’ll try talking to her tomorrow, she’ll be calmer by then.”

 

The doors to the infirmary opened and Link was walking in. He looked around until he found Zelda.

 

“Hey Zelda.” he said. His face showed nothing but concern, he then sat next to her and held his hand in hers.

 

“Hey, Link.”

 

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Peach said as she started to leave.

 

“Thanks, Peach. See ya later.”

 

“See you soon.”

 

As Peach walked back to the lounge, she was trying to figure out how to talk to Samus tomorrow. Peach hated that she was normally so well when it came to talking to Samus, only for this to make her unsure of herself. But she had to try.

 

_Tomorrow will be better._ She told herself.


	10. Final's 1: Peach vs Ridley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry this is late. I've been busy with other things and I never found time for this, but thankfully I still finished this chapter.  
> Hope you enjoy it!

Peach was standing in front of Samus’s door ready to knock at it any second.

 

Ever since yesterday’s fight, Peach had been reciting multiple different ways to talk to Samus. She thought about being very calm. She thought about being more subtle. She thought about being blunt. All these different ways that could either work or go south.

 

But Peach knew what to say. She had to tell Samus that, despite Ridley’s annoying presence, he was here to stay. Peach went through it with Bowser, Zelda went through it with Ganon, this was no different. It’s what needs to be said and Peach was going to tell it.

 

She knocked on the door.

 

“Come in.” said Samus. Peach walked in to find Samus out of her outfit and in her Zero Suit outfit. She was organizing her weapons and was making sure everything was operating well. “Hey Peach, were in the finals now. How you are feeling about it?”

 

“Pretty good.” Peach took a deep breath and continued. “Listen we need to talk.”

 

“About Ridley?”

 

“Sort of, I’m here to talk to you about your anger towards him.” Peach was going for blunt. “Listen I get it, he’s an asshole. But at the end of the day- “

 

“He could have killed her.”

 

Peach went silent.

 

“I’m not stupid. I know you went through it with Bowser and Zelda went through it with Ganon.”

 

“Then you also know that you're letting your anger get the best of you.” Peach said firmly.

 

Samus said nothing and continued to adjust her gun for the third time.

 

“And yes, I went through it with Bowser. But when I got angry with him, I told myself that this is just a tournament. We fight yes, but he never killed me.”

 

Samus still said nothing.

 

“I know it can be hard,” Peach went from sounding firm to her more caring tone. “but you can’t let it get to you.”

 

Samus still said nothing. Samus was feeling a bit better, and Peach was right. Her angry towards Ridley was building and to add insult to injury, Samus’s worry for Peach was now worse than ever. She knew it was a tournament, she knew it was a game, but that didn’t help. Samus liked Peach and that was what was causing this worry and anger, and she hated it.

 

And she was about to hate it more.

 

“Attention!” said a loud voice from the speakers. “The first of the Final’s are, Peach versus Ridley! Peach to meeting room 2, Ridley to meeting room 3 in five minutes!”

 

Samus went pale.

 

“Do you still trust me?” asked Peach. Samus turned around and looked at her.

 

“I said I did but after what Ridley did to Zelda . . .” Peach was silent for a moment, she took a deep breath and held back her annoyance at Samus. She wouldn’t say it but, she hated that Samus didn’t trust her, she hated that it took one fight to crush Samus’s faith in her and she hated that she was now angry.

 

“See you after the fight.” Peach then walked out leaving Samus along.

 

Samus felt like her heart was just stabbed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Peach was about to head for the door when a sudden tug at her dress stopped her, it was Knight.

 

“Oh, hey Knight.” Peach wanted to talk a least a bit more, but she wanted to simply get the fight over with. “I got to go, see you after the fight.”

 

But once again she felt a tug at her dress. Knight didn’t want Peach to fight, he already felt guilty for what happened to Zelda and didn’t want the same to happen to Peach. Peach looked down at Knight, she was a bit annoyed at Knight but, she knew why he was trying to stop her.

 

“I’ll be fine, trust me.”

 

Peach pulled her dress out of Knight’s stubby hands and went through the door. If Knight could scream in panic, he would, but all he could do was watch and hope she would win. Kirby came up beside Knight and put his hand on his shoulder, Kirby was scared too, but knew there was nothing they could do.

 

* * *

 

 

As Peach sat in the meeting room, she couldn’t seem to stop her angry thoughts about Samus _. She said she trusted me, and what, one fight makes her change her mind?_ She thought. She took a deep breath but, it didn’t help. Soon someone entered the room, it was the Grim Reaper himself, except he was short, and his scythe was taller than him.

 

“Hi, I’m Greg the Grim Reaper, and don’t laugh.” He said.

 

“Trust me I won’t.” Peach said bitterly. Greg looked puzzled at Peach’s tone.

 

“I thought you were considered nice.”

 

“Look, I’m not having a good day and I already know the rules, so can I please just go into the elevator?” Peach said in an angry tone. Greg shrugged.

 

“As long as you follow them.” He opened the elevator and motioned for Peach to enter. Peach entered and the door closed.

 

Soon the elevator opened, and Peach entered the arena. The arena this time had a more mountain look, there were two big boulders, one at the corner to Peach’s right, the other at the opposite side. A few weeds were growing in random spots and sharp rock-like spikes were pointing out at the edge of the arena.

 

“Well Kreese, do you like this arena more than the last?” asked Howard.

 

“It’s alright, better than a shit-smelling swamp.” Replied Kreese.

 

Peach looked across the arena and saw Ridley, as she walked closer to him, she noticed a huge grin on his face, it made Peach annoyed, but she held it in. Soon they stood before each other, both took fighting stances and waited for the announcers.

 

“You look angry, are you doing okay?” asked Ridley sarcastically.

 

“Pretty good.” Peach said nothing else, she knew Ridley wanted her mad and she wasn’t going to let it get to her.

 

“FIGHT!”

 

Ridley was about charge Peach but was surprised by Peach jumping in the air and ramming her ass in his face. The attack sent him back a few feet, but he quickly recovered, Ridley then began clawing at Peach repeatedly, luckily Peach pulled out her frying pan and tennis racket and was deflecting all of Ridley’s attacks. Ridley then spun around whipping his tail at Peach sending towards the boulder behind Ridley.

 

Peach’s back and head hit the boulder causing her dizziness but quickly got herself up moved to her left before one of Ridley’s fireballs hit her. She dropped her tennis racket and started throwing turnips at Ridley, most bounced off his face, but one did hit his eye.

 

“Ow! Hey!” More turnips flew towards him with greater force. “Come on!”

 

Ridley shot out more fireballs as he began flying towards Peach, once he was over her, he began an attack dive, but Peach was ready. When Ridley was close enough Peach jumped into the air and performed a backward kick at Ridley’s face, causing him to crash down away from her. As he got up, he started chuckling, it left Peach confused.

 

“You're tougher then Zelda . . . I love that.” He smiled as he said it.

 

Peach was about to throw another turnip when she noticed the Smash Ball under Ridley’s tail. Ridley grinned at Peach. _Shit, he knows!_

 

“Sorry.” He wrapped his tail around the ball. “Mine.” He crushed it and he began glowing.

 

Ridley charged towards Peach and began clawing at her again, except this time Peach wasn’t quick enough. As Ridley clawed away, Peach’s dress was being ripped little by little, red marks started appearing on her and those marks started to bleed.

 

As Peach was being attacked, she started to wonder why he wasn’t using his Final Smash. He had it and now would have been a good time to use it. But instead, Ridley continued to claw at her until her dress was now mere shreds hanging off her body and almost every inch of her skin was covered in marks. Peach was on her knees panting from exhaustion, the strike to her back and head weren’t feeling good and the loss of blood made her light-headed. She looked up at Ridley who had his hands on his hips and was chuckling.

 

“Why didn’t you use it?” She asked. Ridley leaned down and whispered into her ear.

 

“I didn’t need it.”

 

Ridley then bit down at Peach’s midsection cared her into the air, Peach screamed in pain as his teeth pierced into her and was then flung towards the other boulder. Peach’s back was hit again, and she wasn’t moving. She was still conscious, but she remained still.

 

It hurt to move.

 

The audience cheered for Ridley’s victory and once again Ridley raised his arms into the air and chuckled knowing he was in for the final round. Soon the glow the Smash Ball gave faded away.

 

“Damn what a bloody battle! Did Peach die? It looks like she’s dead.” Said Kreese.

 

“No, she’s not dead. Otherwise, we’d half to kill Ridley.” Laughed Hoard.

 

As Ridley relished in his victory, Peach remained on the ground. Her blood continued to pour out of her claw marks and her back was in serious pain, Peach started to cry. She couldn’t hold it in anymore, her body ached all over and she feared to move because every move she made it hurt even more. And what hurt most was that Samus had been watching, she witnessed every second of the fight and was most likely panicking over her. She hated that Samus was scared, she hated the pain she was in and she hated that she was angry.

 

Soon four Toads showed up and began helping Peach, they tried caring her but stopped when Peach screamed out.

 

“Does it hurt to move your majesty?” asked one of the Toads.

 

“Yes.” She said gritted teeth and teared filled eyes.

 

“Okay, we need to get you on the trolley so you can get to the infirmary. Will move you on to it and we won’t move you again, ready?”

 

“Do it.”

 

They cared Peach on to the trolley, she screamed in pain but soon the pain subsided, and she was taken to the infirmary.

 

* * *

 

 

Peach had bandages almost all over her body, only her face and a few spots of her body were showing. The bite holes Ridley made were stitched up and thankfully weren’t bleeding anymore. She would make a full recovery.

 

Samus sat beside Peach, no signs of anger, no tears, nothing. She sat beside Peach waiting for her to wake up.

 

Samus was angry but was holding it in. She hated holding it in, she hated that she couldn’t just shoot and kill Ridley right where he stood. She wanted to kill Ridley so much but knew she would get in serious trouble if she attempted so. What she had to do right now was to sit beside Peach and be here for her when she woke up. Samus then heard a chair pull up beside her, she turned her head and saw Knight climbing into the seat beside Samus.

 

Knight wanted to be here for Peach too.

 

“Guess we're both worried huh?” said Samus dryly. “This wasn’t like with Zelda, this time he almost killed her. The doctors said she passed out due to blood loss.”

 

Knight looked at Samus and said nothing.

 

“She probably won’t wake up for a while.” Samus felt like crying but held it in. “Ridley’s probably laughing in his room.” Samus felt like yelling but held it in. “I-I should. . . I’ll be right back.” Samus got up and left the infirmary.

 

Knight looked at Peach and sighed, he still felt it was his fault. Ridley was winning.

 

* * *

 

 

Samus was walking down the hall of the boy’s hallway and her glare made it clear to any of the guys that they should stay out of the way of whatever she was doing.

 

Every one of them moved aside for her as she made her way to Ridley’s room. She now stood in front of it and knocked.

 

“It’s open.” Said Ridley.

 

Samus bashed the door open and made her way in. Her glare clearly showed Ridley why she was here. He smiled. It worked. He thought.

 

“You nearly killed my friend.” Samus said firmly.

 

“I meant for my bite to be mildly painful.” He said with a smile. “I’m deeply sorry for my more, fatal bite.”

 

“Listen here Ridley, I know what you're doing. And I’m fine with you doing it to me, but not friends.” She pointed her finger at him while she spoke. Ridley was unfazed as he sat on his bed while holding a comic book.

 

“This ends now, got it?”

 

“Hey, no sweat. After all, your friends that were in the tournament are now injured anyway.” He shrugged. What Ridley said made Samus want to kill him right here and now, she wanted to paint the room red with his corpse. Leaving his husk of a body lying on his bed unmoving.

 

Samus began charging her arm cannon, Ridley through away his comic and now stood in front of Samus. Samus was about to aim and shoot when-

 

“Ma’am.” Said a voice from behind. “Stand down.”

 

Samus turned around and saw two Tatepons, both wielding Ultra Heavy shields and Ice Axes. Both were in fighting position and despite their cute look, were known for being brutal. They acted as security for when fights broke out between fighters.

 

Samus stopped her arm canon form charging any further and Ridley sat back down.

 

“We ask you to please leave the boys area.” Said one of the Tatepons

 

“Yeah, whatever. Hope to fight you next Ridley.” Samus said bitterly.

 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Said Ridley with a grin.

 

* * *

 

 

Samus returned to the infirmary when she entered Knight remained next to Peach. Samus could swear that Knight hadn’t moved a single inch. She down next to him once again.

 

“Hey.” She said.

 

Knight looked at Samus. Knight knew why she left, she needed to let out steam. But he also knew that Samus’s anger was beating her. If she fought him, she could lose.

 

“I know I know; I should control my anger. It’s just really hard.” Samus sighed. She was tired of Ridley; she was tired of not getting her chance to fight him and was just plain frustrated.

 

“It’s almost ten pm.” Samus looked at Peach. “I don’t think she’s waking up.”

 

Knight said nothing.

 

“Me and you are fighting tomorrow, will both need rest. Good night Knight.” Samus left the infirmary and headed for her room. Knight remained with Peach and began thinking. He suddenly had an idea, an idea that he felt was necessary to help Samus.

 

What if . . . What if he fought Ridley instead?


	11. Final's 2: Knight vs Samus

Samus was in her room preparing for her upcoming fight with Knight. She didn’t want to fight Knight but knew that it was just a tournament and knew no harm would come from it. 

However, she did want to win. If she won, she could get to fight Ridley, she would make him pay for hurting Zelda and Peach. Samus suddenly felt like crying at the thought of Peach, the last time she saw her she was mad. Samus didn’t blame her, she said she trusted her, and once Zelda lost Samus was more worried for Peach more than ever. 

Samus was about to let her tears fall when she heard a knock at the door. “Come in.” Samus calmed herself and held her tears back. Zelda entered.

“Hey Samus, how you are doing?” she asked in a caring voice.

“I’m alright. I fight Knight today, so this should be interesting.” Samus faced away from the door as she was putting on her armor. “I haven’t checked Peach yet; do you know if- “ 

“Hey.” 

Samus turned around and saw Peach standing at the door. Her claw marks were healed and the spots where Ridley’s teeth pierced her were sealed shut thanks to her stitches and she was walking fine. Peach looked at Samus with her soft eyes and she didn’t look angry at all, she didn’t seem mad about their argument from yesterday. 

Peach simply wanted to see Samus. 

“H-Hey.” Said Samus as she did her best to hold back her tears. 

“I’ll be at the bar watching Game of Thrones if you need me.” Zelda said as she left the room, she knew better than to intrude a private moment. 

“So, how you doing?” Samus shifted her feet as she stood. 

“I’m doing much better.” Peach sat down on Samus bed. “I’m sorry for not listening to you, I get why you had little faith in me.”

“I had faith.” Samus sat down next Peach. “I was just worried about you, your strong and smart and you had a chance at beating him.” It was getting harder for Samus to hold back her tears. 

“He was nothing like Bowser, or even Ganon really. They weren’t as violent as Ridley was.” Peach looked down at the floor. “I should have listened.” 

Samus didn’t like seeing Peach like this, Peach never asked how Ridley fought and Samus never told Peach how he fought. Neither of them was even responsible for how Ridley acted, even if they never argued or if Samus kept her hopes up, Ridley’s actions would be no different. 

“It wasn’t your fault for how he acted. Fate just sucks.” Samus gave Peach a small smile. Peach let out a small chuckle and looked back at Samus. 

“Thanks.” Peach was glad things were better between them but, she had to ask an important question that might ruin that. She knew Samus was angry, and she wanted to know if Samus felt any different. 

“Are you still angry?” asked Peach. Samus looked away.

“Yes, I still want to fight him.” 

Peach sighed. She knew that Samus fought best when she was thinking clearly, she defeated hundreds of enemies because of this. But her anger was blinding her and Peach knew it would affect her greatly if she fought Ridley. 

“Promise me, that if you do lose against Knight, you won’t get angrier? That you won’t get pissed that you can’t fight Ridley.” Peach looked at Samus with a stern yet caring look. 

Samus looked at Peach, Samus was mad but, if she lost against Knight, she knew there was nothing she could about it. At that point, she would half to let karma deal with him. And while Samus still wanted to fight Ridley to the bloody end, she cared about Peach more. And after what she went through, she deserved a promise. 

“I promise, anything for you.” Then, without thinking, Samus put her hand on Peach’s knee. Samus’s heart rate sped up, her mouth opened slightly, and she was about to retract her hand except, Peach wasn’t moving. Peach didn’t flinch or move when her hand rested on her knee, Peach was looking at Samus with her mouth slightly open as well. Samus noticed Peach was breathing heavy and her eyes never left hers. 

Samus wanted to move in and kiss her right there and then, and tell her how she felt when-

“Attention! The next Finals fight is Knight versus Samus! Knight to meeting room 2 and Samus meeting room 3 in five minutes.” 

Both Peach and Samus shut their mouths and Samus retracted her hand from Peach’s knee. 

“Good luck.” Peach said with a smile, she then got up and left the room, leaving Samus alone. Samus’s tears finally faded away and she smiled to herself knowing she was brave enough make the first move . . . and then have it interrupted. 

“Figures.” She said to herself.

* * *

 

 

Knight wasn’t sitting in front of the fireplace or hanging out with Zelda at the bar as the morning went on. He was busy spying on Ridley and Ganondorf in Ridley’s room. 

Knight had made it his personal mission to fight Ridley, not Samus. He wasn’t an expert with emotions but, he knew anger was never helpful when fighting. One had to remain calm and clear-minded if you wanted to beat someone, and Knight knew that if Samus fought Ridley her anger could cause her defeat. 

Knight also felt somewhat responsible for how Ridley beat Zelda. He knew Ridley would have down it either way, but he still felt as though he added more wood to the fire. And so, he was now spying to see if there was anything he could use to his advantage, it was cheating but, Knight didn’t care. He listened carefully through the crack of the door as Ridley and Ganondorf talked. 

“You went overboard don’t you think?” asked Ganon as he leaned against the wall.

“A little, buuuuuuuut it worked in pissing Samus off, so I say it was worth it.” Ridley said as he sat on his bed playing the card game emperor.

“Yes, but you nearly killed Zelda and Peach.” 

“Since when are you sympathetic?” 

“I’m just saying you didn’t need to be as brutal to get Samus angry.” 

“It wouldn’t have worked as well if I didn’t.” Ridley grinned.

Knight wasn’t getting anything he wanted. He was about to leave when Ridley said-

“Although I hope she beats Knight.” 

This got his attention. 

“If that little shit beats her, I would have done this for nothing.” 

“You could still win?” Ganon said sarcastically.

“That’s not the point, I want Samus to lose to me in front of everyone. A freshman beats a regular and Samus looks like garbage in front of a live audience. That’s my point.” Ridley pointed at Ganon at his last word.

“If it were me, I would study up on that little guy, he packs quite the punch you know.” 

“I won’t half to know, Samus will beat him, if she loses, I’m going to be pissed.” 

Bingo. Knight found something that was important. He already knew he had to beat Samus so he could fight Ridley, but now he knew that Ridley would be angry if he had to fight him. And that would be his advantage. Knight began making his way to the lounge when the speaker came on.

“Attention! The next Finals fight is Knight versus Samus! Knight to meeting room 2 and Samus meeting room 3 in five minutes.” 

Knight now made his way to the meeting room; it was time to start his mission. 

* * *

Samus waited patiently for whoever would come through the door. She felt she was ready for Knight, she didn’t know his moves by heart but knew enough to understand that he was very versatile. Samus closed her eyes and reminded herself of the promise she made. 

No matter the outcome, she would make that promise. 

Suddenly the door was kicked open, causing Samus to jump in her seat. A red squirrel wearing a blue sweater and sneakers walked in, he was holding a clipboard in one hand and cigar in the other.

“Hey there, names Conker. How are we doing today?” he said happily. 

“I’m fine. Yourself?” 

“Quite good actually. Anyway, no items, only the Smash Ball and please win since I bet eighty dollars on you.” Conker smirked. 

“I’ll try my best. Alright, let's do this.” 

The elevator doors opened and Samus walked in. 

* * *

 

 

 

Knight sat perfectly still in his chair as he waited. He kept thinking of different outcomes for the battle and how he could avoid attacks from Samus. 

As he waited, Knight was deciding which charms to use. He removed Carefree Melody and replaced it with Baldur Shell, he kept Sharp Shadow since he wanted to do damage and avoid attacks. He then equipped Nailmaster’s Glory, Dash Master, Shaman Stone, and the final charm he added was Thrones of Agony. 

Knight wanted to be able to deal a heavy amount of damage but also wanted to be well protected enough to take heavy damage, hence the Baldur Shell and Shaman Stone. Dash Master added with the Nailmaster’s Glory would also allow him to perform the skills he learned from the Nail Master’s quicker and with Shaman Stone his spells will more damage. 

Soon, a black-capped and hooded figure entered, however, it was a child. The child had a question mark on his hood and the letter M on his grey shirt, and he had a serious look on his face. 

“Hello, I’m Mysterion. Do you remember the rules from last time?” He asked in a fake deep voice. 

Knight said nothing.

“I’ll take that as a no. Easy, no items, only the Smash Ball, and of course no killing. Got it?” 

Knight said nothing.

“Oh right, you don’t talk. I forgot Bentley mentioned that.” He then opened the elevator. “Well, the fight awaits you.” 

Knight walked in and the doors closed. 

* * *

 

At both ends of the arena, Samus and Knight walked into the arena.

The arena this time was in the shape of a perfect square. The ground was covered in snow with only the tips of the grass popping out, ten pine trees were scattered around (also covered in snow), and snow was lightly falling from above. But the snow only fell on the arena, nowhere else, Knight looked up and saw a floating platform with four Chilly’s making snow. 

“Get your coats, everybody, because this is going to cold.” Said Howard.

“Wow, that line sucked.” Said Kreese. 

“Like you could do better.”

“Really? Folks don’t worry about wearing a coat because this battle will heat up any snow that falls!” shouted Kreese. 

“. . . That was better.” 

Knight and Samus walked to the center of the arena and took their fighting stances. Samus took a deep breath, even though they were about to fight, it was just a tournament. 

“Good luck Knight.” Said Samus.

Knight simply stared. 

“FIGHT!” 

Samus fired an ice missile and afterward began charging her arm cannon. Knight used Baldur Shell to block the missile and dashed past Samus, cutting her thanks to Sharp Shadow. Knight then shot a Shade Soul but missed, Samus was in ball form rolling away. 

She went back to normal and began rapid firing at Knight, thanks to Dash Master, Knight was able to dodge most of the shots. A few hit him but nothing fatal. The battle was range versus close courters. Samus kept firing every laser and missile she had while Knight was forced to run and dodge since it was difficult to get close. 

Soon he had an opening, he fired a Shade Soul and it was a direct hit. Samus fell back on the ground, the impact was hard and her head hitting the ground didn’t help. She got up quickly and readied her cannon but couldn’t see Knight anywhere. Suddenly she felt a sting of pain from behind as Knight ran and did a Powerslash at the same time. While doing so he Sharp Shadowed through Samus which caused more pain. 

Samus had one knee on the ground but was able to lift her cannon, but right before she could shoot, Knight fired another Shade Soul. Sending Samus back to the ground. Rage started to fuel her, she wasn’t necessarily getting mad at Knight, she was mad because she was losing. Samus went into ball form and started rolling towards Knight, she knew he was too quick for her to shoot him. So, she thought if she could get close enough, she could take him down. 

Knight tried swinging his nail at the ball that was rolling around him but Samus proved to be too fast. Samus then left three bombs and rolled away, the bombs went off and he was sent flying into the air. Right before Knight came crashing down, he saw the Smash Ball hidden at the top of one of the pine trees. He used his Monarch Wings to move closer to it and then dashed across the air. He was now at the tree and was about to begin climbing when Samus fired a missile at the tree. Bark and pine needles were sent everywhere and Knight was sent back a few feet from the tree. The tree toppled and the ball was sent rolling across the arena. 

Samus began running towards the ball. If she could finish it right here and now, she would be one step closer to fighting Ridley. The ball was almost at the edge of the arena but stopped right near the edge. Knight saw Samus aiming her gun at the ball and needed to act quick. If she won, he failed. And the worst part was that his friend would get hurt by Ridley. He quickly shot a Shade Soul at the ball but didn’t aim at the ball, he shot near it. The force of the soul sent the ball over the cliff and into the water below. 

No one would get to Final Smash. 

Samus growled out of frustration, she turned towards Knight and charged her cannon and fired. Knight jumped to his left, dodging the attack. Samus started rapid firing again but Knight was still too fast, Knight then jumped into the air and went higher thanks to his Monarch Wings. He then fired a Shade Soul from above, Samus dodged it, but while she was directed, Knight was running up to her and was charging all his energy into his nail, once near Samus he used a skill called Great Slash, all his energy put into one simple attack. 

The impact was on Samus gut which sent her backward, she was still standing but was now having trouble doing so. She then fell to her knees and her head hung down. She felt pathetic, she lost, and she knew it. She looked up and saw Knight standing afar from her, she was angry she lost, she was angry she wouldn’t get to fight Ridley, but Knight was only fighting because he had to. It was the Smash Brothers Tournament; this was bound to happen. She fell forward and was left laying down, unmoving. 

The audience cheered at Knight’s victory and even began chanting “KNIGHT! KNIGHT! KNIGHT!”. Knight walked up to the unconscious Samus and put his stubby hand on her shoulder. He felt bad for winning but knew this was the best thing for her. 

Soon a few Metroid’s came flying in and carried Samus away. The elevator door came out and Knight walked in. Samus was safe now. 

 

* * *

 

Samus woke up in the infirmary and was greeted with Peach and Zelda looking at her. Samus groaned as she tried to sit herself up, but Peach stopped her.

“Hey, rest. You’re in no rush here.” Said Peach with a caring smile. Samus listened and laid back down.

“You fought really well out there.” Said Zelda.

“I figured you’d kick some ass.” Peach smirked.

“Thanks, guys.” Samus started blushing “But, I lost. Knight was beating me easily.” 

“You still fought well.” Said Zelda. “And look who came to see you.” Zelda pointed to Samus’s left and behind Peach was Knight. 

“Hey, Knight. Nice fighting out there.” Said Samus. 

Knight said nothing. 

“Alright, I’ll leave you to rest. See you around.” Zelda said before leaving. Knight followed along, he simply wanted to check on Samus to see if she was alright. Know that she was, he didn’t need to stay any longer.

That and he felt Peach wanted to be alone with her.

After Zelda and Knight left, Peach and Samus awkwardly stared at each other. Peach felt nervous but spoke regardless. 

“So . . .you- “ 

“I’m keeping my promise.” Said Samus “I wish I could fight him but, I made a promise to you. And I’m not breaking it.” 

Peach smiled at Samus; she was glad Samus was having better control over her anger. It made her so happy that she wanted to lean in and kiss her. But there were people walking around in the infirmary and Peach wanted their kiss to be in private. Peach noticed a TV remote on the side table and picked it up. 

“Well, since you need to rest, want to watch some TV?” 

“Sure.” 

Peach and Samus spent the rest of the day in the infirmary together, watching whatever show interested them. 

* * *

 

 

Knight sat at the bar alone watching a cartoon show called “The Simpsons”. He didn’t understand one bit of it but it kept his attention. As he sat he heard heavy footsteps from behind, he then heard someone sit next to him and heard the tapping of a finger to the table. 

He turned to his left and was now starring at a very angry Ridley.

“You just had to ruin it didn’t you?” he said. “I did all this for nothing, because of you.” Ridley knocked his knuckles on the table and Sly passed down a glass of beer. Ridley downed it in one shot and set the glass back on the table.

“I want you to know this, when we fight, I’m showing no mercy, no sympathy and no care for your safety. You will have the fight of your life and it ain’t going to end well.” Ridley knocked on the table again and downed another glass of beer. “Just so you know.” Ridley gave Knight a fake smile. 

Knight stared. Knight didn’t fear Ridley; any threat Ridley was throwing was having no effect. He completed his mission, protect Samus. Any worry he had was gone, all he had to do was survive. And if Knight could speak, he would tell Ridley that a maggot was more threating. 

“Speechless huh?” Ridley got up. “See you tomorrow, Knight.” 


	12. Final Battle: Knight vs Ridley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a bit longer but I wanted to make sure this was a good final fight. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Knight sat in front of the fireplace in the lounge, waiting for the inevitable fight with Ridley to be announced. Knight felt no fear for the fight he was coming and felt no worry for what Ridley could do to him . . . or what he could do to Ridley. If his friends were safe, he was fine.

 

As Knight waited and stared at the fire, the fighters that walked by felt uneasy around him. They weren’t scared, but they felt nervous since he would be fighting Ridley. Ridley had shown his violent ways of fighting and many of the fighters felt scared for what could happen to the small creature.

 

Peach, Samus, and Zelda were all sitting at the bar, they had all been watching Knight for a few minutes and they all wondered what he was thinking.

 

“You think he’s nervous?” asked Zelda.

 

“Hard to tell, he doesn’t really have a face.” said Samus.

 

“I’m sure he is, but I think he’s got this.” Said Peach with a smile. Samus and Zelda looked over at Peach.

 

“Yeah but, will he be okay after the fight?” asked Samus.

 

No one spoke. None of them knew what Knight fought from wherever he came from. What trials he faced, what monsters he defeated, or even how he kept himself alive. Samus figured he didn’t require food or water since she never saw him eat or drink. He didn’t seem to sleep all that much either. He had a room, with a soft bed and fluffy blankets, but he always stayed near the fire, every night, and he was always in the exact same place every morning.

 

Samus felt a small chill go down her spine, she thought Knight was cute, but at times he was unnerving. Soon Palutena sat at the bar next to them and ordered a drink.

 

“Hey guys, how are all doing?” she asked as a Boo wearing a bowtie passed her cup of tea.

 

“Were good.” Said Zelda. “Knight’s got us worried though.” She nodded her head towards the fireplace. Palutena looked in her direction.

 

“I’m sure he’ll do great.” She said. Then she smiled. “And hey, sometimes small things in life hold big surprises.” She took a sip of her tea with a smile.

 

“Still,” said Samus. “he’s in for one hell of a fight.”

 

“Attention!” said the voice from the speakers, much louder this time. “It’s time for the final battle between, Knight and Ridley! You two know the drill! Knight meeting room 2, Ridley, meeting room 3! You got five minutes!”

 

None of the girls spoke. They all looked over to Knight who was getting up and began walking to the door. Before he entered, he turned around and looked at them and waved. They waved back and he left the lounge.

 

“Well, this should prove interesting.” Said Palutena.

 

“No kidding.” Said Peach.

 

All the girls turned around to face the TV to watch the fight, except Zelda. She was busy looking at something that was near the fireplace. She got up and walked over when she was near, she noticed a small book was lying on the ground. She picked it up and started flipping through the pages. What she saw ranged from cute to terrifying. There were what looked to be small, cute bush creatures, to horrifying monsters with spider legs, tall insect looking bugs with swords, and one creature that looked a lot like Dracula.

 

She closed the book. Zelda started to think about how the creatures looked, familiar. They all looked cute but also unnerving at the same time. Then it dawned on her. _This is Knight’s journal._ She had two options, one, show it to the others since they were curious about Knight’s background. Or two, respect Knight’s privacy and keep it safe until he gets back.

 

She wanted so badly to read through it to read about the creatures Knight had seen on his journey, to see what he fought, the trials he faced, and how he survived the monsters she briefly saw. But she knew better. So, she tucked it away in her pocket and went back to the bar with the others.

 

She would ask Knight about it later.

  

* * *

 

Knight sat in the chair in the meeting room. As he waited, he began picking which charms to use.

 

He removed all his currently equipped charms and started to put on different ones. He kept Sharp Shadow since he liked being able to dodge and deal damage. He then added Quick Slash so he could attack quicker with his nail. Unbreakable Strength was added which would make his quick attacks both fast and deal more damage. He also added Longnail which would help with range. And finally, Sprintmaster, which as the name implies, allows the bearer to sprint much quicker. Knight wanted to be quick to avoid any attack thrown at him but also wanted to deal a huge amount of damage at the same time.

 

Knight felt prepared, but he knew even with his charms he was still in a for a hard battle. Soon the door opened, and a square-circular red eyeball walked in. He wore a helmet that was much, much bigger than he was. It had four red horns, two that curled upward and two that curled on each side of the helmet. He also looked menacing even though he was just an eyeball.

 

“Knight, right?” he asked. His voice didn’t match his appearance, it was deep and harsh. Despite his cute appearance, he was most likely middle aged. “My names Gong, I’m sure you know the rules.” Knight said nothing. If he could speak, he would tell him that he looked like he was apart of the Grimm Troupe.

 

“I'll take your silence as a yes.” He opened the elevator. “Fight well out there.”

 

Knight got up and entered the elevator.

 

* * *

 

 

Knight and Ridley stepped out of the elevator and were now in the arena on opposite sides. The look of the arena was hellish. There were five platforms, one in the middle and the rest next to it the corners of it. Each platform was surrounded by lava and the heat was intense. On each platform, there were what looked to be naturally made pillars spiraling upward. Each platform had a random amount of them, some small and thin, small and fat, tall and thin and tall and fat.

 

“Man, this fight is definitely going to be hot!” shouted Howard.

 

“Would you shut up with your bad jokes!” shouted Kreese.

 

Knight and Ridley walked to the center and waited for the announcers. Both kept their eyes on each other as they took their fighting stances.

 

“You’ll pay for ruining this moment.” Growled Ridley.

 

Knight said nothing.

 

“Fight!”

 

Ridley lunged forward slashing his claws but missed when Knight Sharp Shadowed through him, dealing a small amount of damage. Ridley turned around only to be greeted with Knight continuously slashing at him. Knight’s strikes were quick but thanks to Unbreakable Strength, each hit to Ridley felt like a great sword slicing into him. It cut deep into him and he hated it.

 

He stopped the attacks by swotting his hand at Knight which sent him flying into one of the pillars, crumbling it to pieces. Knight dug himself out only to be hit with a fireball that sent him back into more pillars. He got up and started to dodge the multiple fireballs coming toward him. Thanks to Sprintmaster it was easy, but Ridley was flying closer as he fired. When he was close, he grabbed Knight and pounded him into the ground. But he didn’t stop, he continued to fly while he dragged Knight through the round, ripping up the ground as he went.

 

Knight’s head was pounding, he felt like his shell was about to crack. He had to think quick, so, he pulled out his mantis claws. He normally used them for climbing up walls, but he couldn’t reach his nail while being dragged. He pulled one claw out using his right arm and started digging into Ridley’s flesh. He dug the claw in and did whatever it took to make it as painful as possible, Knight used the hook of the claw and dragged it down so it could grab more flesh.

 

Ridley screamed in both anger and pain. He Flew high in the air and threw Knight down, but Knight used his Monarch Wings and landed without a scratch. He looked up and saw Ridley diving down and dashed out of the way.

 

Knight looked over at Ridley, he looked awful. The claw marks and cuts from his nail were doing their job well. Ridley’s blood leaked down his body, LOTS of blood. Ridley was starting to feel light-headed, the huge amount of blood he lost was making it harder to focus.

 

But he was still angry.

 

“You’ll bleed more, trust me.” He growled. Ridley was about to strike when he noticed something behind Knight, it was something shining between two pillars. The Smash Ball! Knight turned around to see where Ridley was looking, he saw it too and immediately started sprinting. “Oh no you don’t!” shouted Ridley.

 

Knight was closer and was able to reach the ball since it was stuck between two pillars, he Sharp Shadowed through the pillars, grabbing the ball. He slightly cracked it and was about to hit with his nail when-

 

“MINE!” shouted Ridley.

 

Ridley grabbed it from his hand and started flying upward, Knight grabbed onto his tail and jumped up and took to the ball back. Knight was falling and was about to dash away when Ridley flew under and took it. They were both on the ground, only a few feet apart, Knight lunged at Ridley with multiple slashes with his nail. Since Knight’s attacks kept Ridley busy, he was forced to use one hand to block Knight’s attacks and use the other to hold the ball. Ridley’s arm started to bleed even more but he didn’t care, he had the ball. Knight got sick of using his nail and instead used Shade soul which hit Ridley’s face.

 

Ridley growled in pain and dropped the ball, the ball started to roll away and Knight made a run for it. Ridley swatted him away and started running for it, only for Knight to use Descending Dive which pinned Ridley to the ground. Knight was close to the ball, but Ridley shot a fireball which caused Knight to stumble. The ball was now lying next to a pillar and Ridley began flying towards it, Ridley was about to grab it. _Finally!_ He thought. _Time to win!_ However, when he was above Knight, Knight used Abyss Shriek which caused Ridley to fly backward. Ridley hit the ground hard, his head ached, the blood in his body began leaking more, and his whole body felt sore. He slowly got on his feet and looked to where the ball was. His eyes went wide when he looked.

 

Knight was standing and facing Ridley, with the Smash Ball in hand. Ridley was about to fly towards him but was too late, Knight slashed the ball with his nail, it was in pieces and an ominous glow emanated from Knight.

 

Knight felt an energy flow through him like nothing he ever felt before, he had no idea what would happen when he used his own Final Smash, but he didn’t care, it was time to win.

 

Knight activated it.

 

Knight felt his shell start to crack, dark sharp looking tentacles grew from his back and Void started to shoot out from his body and eyes. Soon his shell shattered and all hell broke loose. Knight was no longer cute looking, he was now the size of a building with eight, white, soulless eyes. The Void that made up his body was constantly shifting and his hands and arms were no longer stubby. He had four hands and arms, they were huge and sharp. The tentacles on his back were moving rapidly and he unleashed a mighty roar that made the audience silent in both awe and fear.

 

Knight was no more, before them all, was the Shade Lord.

 

Ridley was terrified. He didn’t know where to go, Knight was huge and the monstrosity before him showed no sign of mercy, sympathy or and care of his safety. Ridley was about to run but was grabbed by one of the huge, sharp looking hands. The Shade Lord brought him closer to his face, which scared Ridley even more. The Shade Lord growled in anger and squeezed harder which made Ridley gasped for air. Then he started using his other three hands to claw at Ridley. The clawing never seemed to stop, the cuts were deep, Ridley screamed in pain, the audience flinched every time a hand clawed him. The clawing got faster and harsher and the hand that held him finished the Final Smash by slamming him down on the ground, pushing Ridley deep into the ground where only half his face showed. The heat from the lava made the ground sting Ridley’s entire body.

 

Soon the power of the ball faded, and the Shade Lord began shrinking. Soon all his terrifying features vanished, and his tentacles retracted back into a small body. The Shade Lord was gone, and Knight was back, even his shell had returned somehow.

 

Knight stood victorious, Ridley remained still and unconscious, and the audience was speechless. For a solid ten seconds, not one sound could be heard except the wind softly blowing. But once eleven seconds passed the audience cheered and roared louder than ever! The tournament was over, and Knight was the victor. Confetti rained down all over the arena and fireworks exploded from above the stadium. The audience was once again cheering “KNIGHT! KNIGHT! KNIGHT!” As Knight stood victorious as Space Pirates were busy digging Ridley out of the ground.

 

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Shouted Kreese.

 

“Holy shit what a battle! And the newcomer won!” shouted Howard.

 

The elevator came up and Knight entered. He survived.

 

* * *

 

 

Everyone at the bar was speechless.

 

For a few minutes, no one said a word or even moved. Soon the fighters started to talk among each other and the only thing on their minds was Knight’s Final Smash. Some found it fitting since he was cute like Kirby, and Kirby’s Final Smash was powerful. However, Kirby remained the same, just with a hat and a huge sword. Knight took on a whole new appearance and had the look of a demon.

 

As the other Fighters discussed, the girls were busy talking amongst themselves.

 

“Well . . . Holy shit.” Said Zelda.

 

“I-I wasn’t expecting that.” Said Peach.

 

Samus was amazed as well but kept silent. She really didn’t have anything to say, she just sat quietly and smiled. Nice one Knight. She thought. Soon, Knight entered the room and at first, no one clapped. They were all still a bit shocked at what just happened. But soon one person started clapping, Kirby, who was smiling as always. Soon the girls joined in, and then everyone joined. Every fighter had a compliment to give, each more positive than the last, even Ganon and Bowser who gave Knight a handshake.

 

Knight sat the bar and al three girls smiled at him. He said nothing.

 

“Good job out there.” Said Samus.

 

“Oh, Knight.” Said Zelda as she got up from her seat. “I think this is yours.” She gave him his journal.

 

He took it and put it back in his cloak. He nodded his thanks. He was about to watch TV when Zelda spoke again.

 

“Hey so, if you don’t mind me asking. Would it be alright if we could see what creatures you fought?”

 

Knight tilted his head in confusion.

 

“Zelda what did you do?” asked Peach as pinched the brim of her nose.

 

“I found it on the ground, thinking it was just some dumb book. But then I flipped through the pages and figured out it was yours. Sorry.” Zelda sunk her head to hide the blush of embarrassment.

 

Knight said nothing for a moment. The journal didn’t contain his writings, they were The Hunter’s notes. He thought about how he could get that across. But then it hit him, his quill. He pulled it out and wrote on a blank part of the book. After he finished, he showed it to Zelda.

 

It read: **Yes, you can read it. The writing is not mine. This journal was a gift to help me.**

“Really? Thank you.” Said Zelda.

 

“You could write this whole time?” Samus said dryly.

 

Knight said nothing. He honestly forgot he had it.

 

“Oh, who cares? Let’s see what you fought.” Zelda sat in-between Peach and Samus so they could see. For the rest of the evening, they read the Hunter’s Journal, talking about the creatures he fought, and the notes The Hunter made. Some were funny, some interesting, but most were horrifying. Zelda thought about asking how he handled all these monsters but then remembered his Final Smash, she had a rough idea as to how.

 

As the night went on, one by one each fighter went to their rooms, and Knight was alone in front of the fireplace. As he sat there, he thought of everything that happened, meeting new friends, fighting new enemies. And all around having a good time.

 

He also started drawing and taking notes in the journal, there some blank pages he used.

 

**Samus:**

**Strong and tough. She uses an arm cannon that can shoot different projectiles. Hates Ridley and Likes Peach.**

**Peach:**

**Nice and lovable. Uses a wide array of weapons, frying pan seems the deadliest. Likes Samus.**

**Bowser:**

**Big and deadly. Has a strong spike-like shell and breaths fire. Fights best up close. Somewhat slow.**

**Ridley:**

**Vicious and angry. A dangerous dragon-like monster that cares little for living creatures. Can shoot fireballs. Fast when flying and on foot.**

**Zelda:**

**Kind and sweet. She mainly uses magic and a bow. Likes my weaverlings.**

**Kirby:**

**Fun and joyful. Can copy people’s abilities for himself. Good up close and at range. I played video games with him.**

Knight closed the journal and went back to the fire. As he sat, he started to feel something. It felt odd and yet, he liked it.

It was an emotion, and it was happy.


	13. Celebration Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These last few chapter are mainly just going to wrap up loose ends. So there nowhere near as long as the last few have been. 
> 
> Enjoy.

The Super Smash Brothers tournament was finally coming to an end, most of the people that came were heading to their hotels to pack up and head home. The fighters, however, had the choice to either leave as well, or, stay for the after party.

 

The after party for each Smash Bros tournament was as simple as it sounded. Fighters would stay to party till the sun rose and have no regrets for any hangovers they may have. It was a way of kicking back and relaxing after so many days of fighting. Drinks were being passed around by black Shy guys wearing white bowties and almost every tray was empty in seconds.

 

It was ten at night when the party started. The lounge this time had neon lights hung everywhere, music booming out of the mics, and enough alcohol to flood a city. Most of the fighters were there enjoying themselves, some left since they were homesick, and one left out of embarrassment.

 

Samus was leaning against the wall to enjoy her drink and tapping her foot to the music. As she leaned, she had her eyes on Peach, who was dancing along to the music. Peach, Zelda, and Rosalina were together dancing, laughing and even though their dance moves weren’t great, they didn’t care, they were having fun. Samus didn’t mind parties but, she wasn’t into dancing. She didn’t hate it, but she preferred to relax and enjoy the music.

 

Knight was standing next to her, unsure of what to do. He had never been to a party before, didn’t know any dance moves, and couldn’t drink. He was WAY outside of his comfort zone and didn’t know what to do. Soon though, Kirby walked by. He waved to Samus who waved back and then looked at Knight. Kirby waved for Knight to follow, but Knight hesitated. Kirby decided to help Knight out, so he grabbed his hand and dragged him to the dance floor. Samus chuckled at the little exchange as Kirby and Knight were now on the dance floor. Kirby moving, rolling and bouncing around like an expert, while Knight stood straight and awkwardly.

 

Kirby encouraged Knight to move along to the music, Knight still hesitated. However, Knight remembered that he didn’t understand video games at first but started to get it. So, he started moving. Knight raised his little arms into the air and began waving them back and forth. While he did that, he moved his body along with the music.

 

Samus chuckled at Knight’s dance moves and then reminded herself that she wasn’t very good either. Soon her eyes were back on Peach. Samus knew she was staring but, she couldn’t help it. The way Peach swayed her hips to the music, her big cute smile, the fact that Peach didn’t seem to care about how goofy she looked. Samus loved it. She started to feel her face heat up and knew she was most likely blushing. Samus looked down at her drink and started moving the liquid around in the glass. Her and Peach needed some time alone to talk, but how would she start the conversation?

 

She figured once the party was over, she would talk to her about how she felt and most likely just wing it. As Samus looked at her drink she failed to notice Zelda who was standing in front of her and was grinning.

 

“What is it?” asked Samus.

 

“Why are you being a wallflower? Come on dance!”

 

“Hey, come on, you know I suck.” Samus wasn’t really worried about her dance moves, she was more worried about looking dumb in front of Peach. She knew deep down Peach wouldn’t care if she looked dumb in front of her. But it would still be embarrassing.

 

“Does that really matter! Just have fun!” Zelda grabbed Samus’s hand and started dragging her. Samus quickly gave her drink to one of the Shy Guys and was now on the dance floor. Samus started moving to the music as best she could but she knew she was bad.

 

“Hey there!”

 

Samus turned around and was facing Peach.

 

“H-Hey.” Samus stopped dancing for a moment. She wanted so badly to talk to Peach right now and tell her everything. She also wanted to kiss her badly as well but knew that’d be a bit dramatic since there were people all around them. Peach noticed that she stopped dancing and smiled at her.

 

“Keep dancing! Enjoy the moment!” Peach began moving around even more and it was mesmerizing to Samus. She saw her dance moves earlier but seeing them up close was even better. Samus felt heated up again and went back to dancing, hoping Peach wouldn’t notice. Except, Peach did notice.

 

Drinks were sipped, music blared the room, and one by one the fighters went back to their rooms for one last night at the stadium. Soon only a quarter of the fighters were left in the lounge and the music wasn’t as loud. A few Dry Bones walked around collecting garbage and began cleaning, but there was one more song the DJ was going to play.

 

“Alright folks, one more song for the night.” He said into his mic. The music started and it was a slow song. Most of the fighters got together to slow dance, most weren’t couples, they did it for fun. Such as Pit and Isabella, Donkey Kong and Wii Fit trainer, and whoever else was in the room. Samus, Peach, and Zelda were the only ones in the room not dancing.

 

“I’m going to get Link, you two have fun.” Zelda winked at Peach before walking off.

 

“Come on Samus, it’ll be fun.” Said Peach with a grin.

 

“S-Sure, why not?” Samus was blushing more than ever.

 

Peach put her hands on Samus’s hips and Samus put her hands onto Peach’s shoulders, they locked eye contact and began moving slowly to the rhythm. Samus kept a squeal from coming out, she couldn’t have been happier and more nervous at once. Peach had the cutest smile and the yellow dress she wore was breathtaking. Peach loved how Samus was looking at her, her cute eyes, her beautiful hair. And Peach loved her Zero Suit outfit, it fit her form perfectly. Not that she would ever picture Samus doing anything lewd in it . . . that never happens.

 

The whole time Samus and Peach danced, Knight had been watching. He couldn’t have been happier for Samus, seeing her dance with Peach meant she was getting closer to confessing her feelings.

 

Knight then decided he might as well slow dance since he did a “normal” dance. Kirby was dancing with Meta Knight, who looked annoyed. But soon a tall woman walked over to him. He looked up at her and tilted his head. “Hello, I’m Bayonetta. Your fight was amazing by the way. Especially your Final Smash.” Knight nodded his head in thanks. He then gave out his hand, showing he was asking for a dance. Bayonetta raised an eyebrow. “You’re a bit short, but I’ll just hold you up.” So, she lifted Knight up and held him tight in her right arm. Holding Knight’s right hand while his legs dangled. She did most of the work, but she didn’t mind.

 

Knight was having fun.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Soon the song ended, and all the fighters went to their rooms. Except for Knight, who sat by the fire. Most of the fighters were passed out but Samus remained awake. She sat up in her bed in her pajamas and was playing out how she would talk to Peach. She was going to wing it but figured some pre-planning might help. She took a deep breath and got out of bed and started to make her way to Peach’s room.

 

As soon as she opened the door, Peach was there in her pajamas, with her hand raised, ready to knock. “Oh hey.” Said Peach.

 

“Hey . . . Listen, we need to talk.” Said Samus as she rubbed the back of her neck.

 

“Same.” Peach walked in and sat down on Samus bed who sat next to her. “You, want to start?”

 

“Yeah. So, I think I’ve had a crush on you for a while.” Said Samus with a huge blush but didn’t care.

 

“You think?” Peach teased with a smile. Samus blushed more.

 

“Regardless, for a while, I’ve liked you but, didn’t know how to say it. Or if, you liked me back.” Samus started twiddling with her thumbs. Samus’s mouth felt dry, she was so nervous that she could feel every heartbeat she had getting faster and faster. It only got faster when Peach put her hand on her knee. Samus turned to look at Peach who was looking directing into her eyes.

 

“I’ve felt the same for a while as well. I didn’t know if you felt the same. So, I just didn’t say anything.” Peach looked away. She felt somewhat guilty she didn’t say what she wanted sooner, but soon smiled again and looked back at Samus. “But hey I’m saying it now.”

 

Samus felt all her emotions explode at once. So many thoughts went through her head. _She likes me back. She felt the same. She held it back too._ All these thoughts led to one single and simply thought. _Kiss her._ She didn’t know if this was the right time, she felt like she should talk more with Peach but damn it all! She couldn’t hold it back. When Peach least expected it, Samus moved in and kissed her. It was brief, but it felt great to kiss Peach. Her lips were soft and felt warm, Peach was shocked at first, but soon settled down and started kissing back. Soon, both their hands were on each others’ hips. They moved closer to each other and the only sound in the room was their soft kissing. After a few minutes of kissing they parted and rested their foreheads to each other. Breathing slowly.

 

“That was something.” Peach said with a smile. She moved her left hand to Samus’s cheek and started massaging it with her thumb.

 

“That was great.” Samus smiled back. Samus pulled Peach back in for another kiss. “I have a weird question.”

 

“Go on?” Peach had a sly smile.

 

“Do you . . . want to, sleep. With me . . . tonight.” Samus was mentally kicking herself for stuttering. Peach looked at Samus with those same soft and caring eyes that Samus loved.

 

“Sure. Nothing funny though.” Peach grinned. Samus’s face went redder than it ever had in her life.

 

“I-I-I wouldn’t do that right away. We just became a thing.” She nervously chuckled. Peach giggled at her nervous response.  

 

Peach and Samus laid under the covers together. Peach’s back towards Samus while Samus had her arm around Peach’s waist. They slept through the whole night snuggled up in each others’ arms, their soft breathing putting each of them to sleep. And the thought that both no longer had to hide anything.

 

It was heavenly.


	14. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter, and I want to say thank you. Thank you for reading this, your comments, your kudos, everything. I'm happy I made a story you could all enjoy and hopefully I can do it again with my future stories.
> 
> Enjoy.

The last of the fighters that remained were up and ready for their trip home. Wario rode his motorcycle into the rising sun, Fox prepared his ship for all the fighters who came with him, Bowser had his minions ready his ship, and Sonic and Captain Falcon raced each other to their homes.

Ridley left early in the morning; everyone was happy he did. 

All the fighters were outside of the doors to the lounge and were saying their goodbyes. 

“So, when will we see each other again?” asked Zelda.

“We could see a movie in a couple months if you guys want?” said Samus. 

“Sounds good to me.” Said Peach.

As the girls stood together Peach and Samus had their hands held together. Zelda couldn’t hold back a smile. “You two are so cute together.” Peach blushed while Samus looked annoyed.

“You’ve said that three times this morning.” 

“I know, but I can’t stop saying it since you two finally talked. I mean, took you long enough.” Zelda had a huge smirk as Samus looked more annoyed. Peach giggled. 

“I’m glad you're happy, but please stop saying it.” 

“Hey guys, you look cute together.” Said Marth as he walked by. Samus rolled her eyes. Early in the morning Peach and Samus told their friends they were a “thing” and the feedback was all positive. Rosalina was thrilled and said she knew a great café they could go to for a date. Palutena said that just by looking at them both their relationship was strong. And as Samus left the lounge Sly gave Samus a wink.

As the girls exchanged Knight simply stood by staring. He felt happy for Samus, seeing his new friends still being able to be happy after Ridley made it worth the trouble. It was sad he would be leaving; he didn’t have much going on back in Dirtmouth. But if things worked out between Peach and Samus he was good. As Knight listened, Kirby came up and patted his shoulder. Kirby gave Knight a goodbye huge and squeezed hard. Knight was a bit caught off guard, but soon patted Kirby’s back in return. Kirby waved goodbye to him and the girls and left. 

Knight would miss his video game pal. 

“Hey, who’s that?” asked Zelda. Peach and Samus turned around and saw someone walking up the parking lot. In the past, some fans would stay behind to ask for autographs and would start asking questions that came across as crass and rude. However, this person wasn’t running towards them in awe, she walked calmly towards them, walked upright, and seemed sure of herself. She also looked odd, two curved horns on her shell-like head, and a red skirt. She also had a black colored body. 

“Knight is she a friend?” asked Peach. Knight walked in front of the group to greet her. She stopped in front of him and looked down at him. 

“Seems you won.” She said. The girls listened carefully to the exchange. “I thought for a moment I would half to kill you when you became the Shade Lord. But it seems you have more control then I thought.” 

Knight said nothing.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, good job.”

“Oh! I remember you.” Said Samus. The girl looked up. 

“What? We’ve never met.” She said.

“No, in his journal he showed us. You were in it. Your Hornet, right?” Hornet looked confused. She looked down at Knight who continued to stare.

“You have a journal? And I’m in it? What else have you done?” 

Knight brought out his journal and Quill and wrote on a blank paper. Once he finished, he showed it to Hornet. 

It read; **I can feel happy.**

“Emotions eh? Never thought a vessel would have any.” 

Samus was a bit put off by her attitude towards Knight. She admitted to almost killing him and said she never thought he had emotions. She didn’t know what Hornet meant by ‘vessel’, but she didn’t care. She decided to defend her small friend.

“You have a good friend you know.” Said Samus. Hornet turned her head to her. “He helped me get some stuff off my chest and was a good listener.” Samus squeezed Peach’s hand tighter. Peach looked at her with a smile. 

Hornet looked down at Knight. There was clearly a lot more information she was missing. Her time around Knight told her he was no different than the last hundred vessels the Pale King disposed of. But it seems from what these new people were saying, he learned a thing or two. Maybe she could learn some of it. Someday. 

“I guess I do.” Hornet began walking away. “Well, all I wanted to do was to congratulate the little shadow. I’ll be off.” 

The girls were a bit confused; this woman came in to tell Knight a good job and nothing more. And then simply leave. Knight turned back to the group and looked at each of them. He waved at them showing it was time to leave. 

“Aw, do you need to leave that quick?” asked Zelda. Knight looked up at her and said nothing. “Well, I’ll miss you.” 

“Will miss you, Knight.” Said Peach. “Hope everything works out, wherever you live.” 

“Hey Knight,” Samus walked up to Knight and bent down to eye level. “thank you.” Samus smiled at him. Knight was the reason Samus was able to get her thoughts out o her head, to get lose and build up the courage to talk to Peach. Knight didn’t do anything, but he helped Samus at least figure things out. And Samus couldn’t be happier for that. Knight wrote on a paper and showed it to Samus. 

It read; **Your welcome.**

Samus nodded her head and went back to Peach. Knight turned and ran up to where Hornet was. Hornet looked down at him while they walked. Knight looked up at her and then they both went back to looking forward. The girls smiled at their exchange; it was complicated, they figured.

“Well, goodbye girls.” Said Zelda. Peach and Samus said goodbye back and Zelda walked over to Link who had their horse ready. 

“So, you want a ride back?” asked Peach 

“I was thinking, we could do that walk again. If that’s alright?” 

“See, I knew you would say that that’s why I had our luggage taken by mail again.” Peach smirked. Samus shook her head. 

“You know me so well.” Samus smiled back. 

Peach and Samus walked together through the same forest, hand in hand like there was nothing else to worry about. They would talk without any awkward silence, Peach flirted and teased Samus just to have fun. And when the time came to camp, they would snuggle up with each other next to the fire. The softness of their skin and the warmth of the fire putting them to sleep easily every night. 

A perfect way, to end the Smash Brothers Tournament. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
